Juiced!
Juiced! - also known as Juiced - Adventure Land - is a unique indie game created by Timothy van der Hoeven where you play as Captain Tiko, a small pink bug-looking creature. The game begins with you receiving a message that the location of the Eternal Crystals have been found on a planet, before you toss your juice box and make your way there. Upon your arrival, a short cutscene showing a mysterious villain being informed that you have landed and have yet to notice their tracking device, meaning that they now know the location of the Eternal Crystals!
Within seconds of playing, I bit the dust. Hard. I misjudged a pendulum trap that came swinging towards me, and then thought the danger was over. But was it? Nope. More pendulums followed by a circular saw and then finally, a huge boulder rolling after me, chasing me down the stairs to a crumbling floor that I could do nothing to stop myself from falling through. Now, that is not the fault of the game. That is absolutely 100% my fault for having such a slow reaction and just blinking as I watched Tiko helplessly succumb to my failed attempt to escape. But it is also something I found hilarious for catching me so completely off guard right at the beginning of the game.
Playing the first section of the game is really just an intro into the story, and after completing the first section you will be taken to Chapter 1, where the proper tutorial takes place. This helps to further engage you and make you aware of how environmental objects such as twisty flowers can extend your jump and jumping on enemies nets you coins. It’s standard platforming-fare, so most people would get on fine without it, but it’s helpful to have for newbies or kids, or even just people who prefer to have a tutorial there. One thing I really liked was the inclusion of Starman, a little blue dude that pops out of chests and if you keep jumping on him, will lead you to some special treasure. This added a nice little bit of variety into the mix, and was something I would always be sure to keep an eye out for.
The art style of Juiced! is very simple with an adorably quaint feel to it. Character design is highly varied, with plenty of personality injected into them all. Collecting all of the fruit dotted around levels is a lot of fun, and the understandable, child-like wonder I had whilst playing felt oddly relaxing. The soundtrack is very upbeat, and further adds to the retro feel that the art gives. For being a pixel-y nostalgic looking game graphically, it’s still very much an aesthetically pleasing game, with plenty of interesting locations and enemies to see as you progress.
Controls are simple, but surprisingly well done and everything feels very in-sync. Double jumping feels satisfying as you do a little flip, and having access to a bunch of different weapon types that can easily be switched between is great. Fairies, which allow you to fully replenish your health are also scattered throughout the game, and feel like they have been placed exceptionally well, as their locations always seem to be around the points that I’m struggling (or now have full health after making a stupid mistake again).
For being a game created as a hobby from someone who in his usual work is known as Dr. Timothy van der Hoeven, rather than a game-dev by trade - Juiced! makes for a fantastic little game. It clocks in at around 10 hours of game-time, and at the low low price of £4.49 on the Nintendo Switch eShop, it’s perfectly priced to hit that sweet-spot in the value for money. Juiced! is definitely a game I’d recommend to try out or buy for the kids. And with unlockable items such as hats, there’s plenty to keep you coming back for more.
In the end, we decided to give Juiced! the Collecting Asylum rating of 7.5/10.
Have you played Juiced! yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Timothy van der Hoeven for the Juiced! Nintendo Switch review code!
