[REVIEW] World Gone Sour

Mat Paget
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [REVIEWED], PC)

Licensed games are a dime a dozen. Most of the time, people don’t even realize that they’re released. They usually hit the shelves in hopes of an ignorant parent seeing it, remembering the love their child has for the subject the game belongs to, and making a blind purchase. Most of the times, it ends in boredom, frustration, or even tears from the child — kids are spoiled. But there are those few cases where a licensed game is actually a quality title. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s news: Goldeneye 007, Ducktales, and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay are just a few of the few licensed games that are fantastic. So, where does World Gone Sour fit in amongst all this?

Well, World Gone Sour is definitely a licensed game. There is an already well-known face for the game–Sour Patch Kids–that Beefy Media, the developers, uses as a skin for gameplay that is very similar to that of already well-known games: Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country. But it’s not only reminiscent of Nintendo’s platformers. Much like LittleBigPlanet, it has a narrator. He isn’t exactly Stephen Fry, but Creed Bratton (you may have seen him on “The Office”) does an excellent job at telling the story of “The Green Guy,” and the rest of the Sour Patch Kids he meets along the way, in a very clever and humorous way.

It’s actually quite surprising what the studio got away with in this game. The first thing players will see when starting up the game is a red Sour Patch Kid stabbing another Sour Patch Kid, and leaving him in the street to die. And the cutscenes that play throughout the game are entertaining, funny, and strangely charming. Some of the things that happen in these scenes are quite surprising, and all of this together shows exactly how cool the Sour Patch Kids brand is. I mean, what candy has Method Man doing a music video for it?

But besides its charm, it’s a pretty simple game; there isn’t a whole lot, gameplay-wise, that players haven’t seen before. But, saying that, there are one or two things that can’t be found in a Mario game — including the excruciatingly long load times. There aren’t many levels in the game, but each level is of a very generous length. And throughout each level, players will find other Sour Patch Kids they can gather for use with platforming, growing larger, and committing suicide. Yes, you read that right. Each level has eight ways to commit Sour Patch suicide; these include, but are not limited to, death by melting, skewering, drowning, and catching fire. This adds to the already fantastic charm of the game.

The levels look awesome. For the most part, they are nothing but a joy to traverse. And there is an option for local co-op, but it does pose problems. The camera follows player one, and that is an obvious problem for the second player. Not only is the camera absolutely terrible in co-op, but the game does become more difficult with a second player; both players share one set of lives. Much like Rayman: Origins, this game is best when experienced alone.

In the end, World Gone Sour is a platformer that does exactly what it’s supposed to, but not much else. Its charm is what carries the game, and it’s not a bad game by any standards, but there are plenty games that do platforming better. If it weren’t for the $4.99 price tag, this game wouldn’t be worth the price of admission. Thankfully, this game is set at that price and, if you’re looking for an entertaining game, is worth it just to experience the charming cutscenes and gameplay. But, again, if you’re looking for a superb platforming experience akin to Mario and Donkey Kong’s adventures, then you should look elsewhere.

The GameSparked Podcast Apr-17-2012

The GameSparked Team

The team at GameSparked survived Friday the 13th to bring you a brand new addition to the fabled stories of The GameSparked Podcast. This week, viewers will find out that the team have done some devilish deeds as children, Leighton didn’t platinum ANYTHING in the past week, Myles and Mat rock the mic at karaoke, Brittney played Half-Life 2 for YOU, and everyone absolutely loves Skullgirls.

Intro/Outro by Cody DeBoer

Send us your emails and questions to podcast@gamesparked.com