If Hidden Variables’ Bag It! taught us anything, it’s that one should never underestimate an iOS game that happens to star grocery items. Can Al4red Studios’ upcoming Frenzy Pop do for platformers what Bag It! did for casual puzzlers? The games that inspired Frenzy Pop certainly have pedigree, running the gamut from Sonic the Hedgehog to Super Mario Bros. to Super Meat Boy. Fans of the more recent CheeseMan should especially appreciate this one’s ultra fast-paced and wall jump-filled style.
So what are the perks of being a pop bottle, you ask? Apparently they’re more versatile than your average iOSÂ platforming hero — case in point, Mr. Pop here can drop on the ground and roll beneath low-hanging obstacles. The anthropomorphic soda container can also achieve carbonated flight for brief periods, which is probably way cheaper than a jetpack while having the same gameplay effect.
There are, of course, great risks associated with being a soda bottle. Mr. Pop’s glass body might as well be a balloon for all the protection it offers him; he shatters the moment he touches spikes or saw blades, and boy, are there a lot of those in Frenzy Pop. Not to mention that he has to jump over and roll under them while being run down by moving walls and giant snowballs! A preview build also treated us to screen looping puzzles where the player decides between branching paths that could lead to safety or throw Mr. Pop straight into certain doom. A boss caps off every level set, and these continue the theme of outracing really big things while there’s spikes everywhere. One of the toughest platformers on iOS? You betcha.
Al4red Studios haven’t announced a release date yet, but you can watch for it at their site, Facebook account and Twitter feed.