I love outrageous characters in fantastic settings, and I appreciate them even more when they’re treated with straight-faced normalcy. I don’t care what circumstances granted sentience and gender to a furry blue puffball and outfitted him with a giant mustache and eyes in a permanent state of disinterest. It’s pointless to get wrapped up in the sure-to-be-insane dynamics that power the world these creatures inhabit, so why bother? Like the best kids shows and/or the wildest fiction, background is subservient to any immediate plot.
As the title would imply, the blob’s name is Leo and his fortune has gone missing. Thankfully the perpetrator has left a trail of gold coins across twenty-four unique levels grouped into five different worlds. Every time Leo makes it to a new world, he becomes increasingly more paranoid and cranky, and intimately suspects a different close relative of running off with his precious loot. You can probably guess what happens—morality and money are often incompatible—but listening to Leo’s ramblings in-between levels rarely feels intrusive.
Leo’s Fortune plays a lot like the PlayStation Portable’s LocoRoco and the similarly inspired by an early iOS title, Rolando. If neither of those references connect for you, then it’s easier to say Leo’s Fortune is a momentum-based platformer with a heavy emphasis on real time physics. Room is also made for a neat puff/expansion mechanic that slows Leo’s rate of descent, as well as an instant-heavy option that does the exact opposite. Leo’s Fortune does well to play around with both of these mechanics, and is constantly in search of new ways to apply them to a basic platforming blueprint.
Tropes endemic to 2D platformers are well accounted for. Rotating spikey platforms require careful negotiation, physics-based seesaws need to properly imbalanced before you can ascend to a higher platform, and underwater dalliances call special attention to Leo’s ability to expand and instantly float upward. Falling through chasms of sawblades, dodging wrecking balls made of spikes, running away from lava — you’ve seen all of this before, and Leo’s Fortune isn’t especially interested in pushing the limits of the platforming genre.
The occasional puzzle also makes its way into Leo’s Fortune, and most of the time in some sort of recognizable context. You’ll frequently have to figure out how to get a certain number of boxes on a scale, or flip around enough levers to allow a box to pass. One time I even had to rotate a circular disc with a maze inside, and get little balls to spill out of an exit. The environmental puzzles inside Leo’s Fortune only require a maximum of two steps, indicating the game favors agility over sluggish deliberation. You usually only have to think for a few seconds before moving on.
Leo’s Fortune is an all-around easy experience, but certain sections won’t hesitate to test your patience. The game has this bizarre fascination with creating a ramp upward and then positioning a lip right at the point of ascent. Getting over this lip requires the player to launch off the side of the ramp at the exact right time with the exact right momentum, which is a combination of action that feels more like dumb luck than applying any skill. Leo’s Fortune does this all the time and, other than possibly sucker-punching speed runners, I have no idea why. Creating a repeating series of blockades felt felt antithetical to the breezy nature of the other challenges.
Repetition also seems to be Leo’s Fortune’s undoing. It excels at introduced a new challenge in every level, but then it defaults to escalating repeats of that same challenge. You got through one rotating box puzzle? Great, now do three in a row. Leo’s Fortune repeats this trick constantly. This isn’t necessarily out-of-line with the Platforming 101 Handbook, but it’s disappointing to watch an otherwise straight laced game resort to repeating its own tricks ad nauseam.
Beginning to end, Leo’s Fortune took about two hours of my time. Collecting fifty gold coins in every level was a feat I accomplished by pure happenstance, as they were always on the intended path. Each level also has the ability to earn three stars; one by the aforementioned coin collection, and two more by not dying and beating a predetermined time limit. Collecting stars opens up one-off challenges for every world, which are usually time attacks inside unique levels. A hardcore mode is available once the credits roll, but I didn’t find playing through the whole game without dying to be a particularly attractive proposition.
Leo’s Fortune isn’t as demanding as something like Super Meat Boy. It’s also not as challenging as LocoRoco or Rolando. I don’t claim to know why the world needed another blob-protagonist physics-based platformer, other than maybe there was a dearth of similar products in 2015. The only signature Leo’s Fortune leaves, other than expected competence in walking a well-worn path, is the complete lack of emotion exhibited by its titular protagonist. It’s actually hilarious to see him flying through deadly hazards with a look of utter indifference on his face, and the development team was wise to keep this consistent throughout the entire experience.
In any case, Leo’s Fortune originally debuted as a mobile title in 2014. A binary separation of left versus right was probably fine for a touchscreen, but a controller with tactile buttons is an obvious step up. Likewise, the added resolution and the availability of a giant screen benefits the game, as the static backgrounds are quite pretty and offer a cool depth-of-field effect. Leo, in his fluffy blue glory, looks great as well.
Leo’s Fortune finds an identity behind the blasé eyes of its protagonist. Leo’s the kind of dude who’s seen it all before, a sentiment sure to be shared by any seasoned platformer enthusiast. The game is only $7, which is on par with the experience Leo’s Fortune delivers. It’s a nice way to kill a couple hours on a Saturday, assuming ambition doesn’t get the better of you first.
