Juice Belts Review

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Juice Belts Review

By Bobby Gooding on July 1st, 2011
Our Rating:

:: PHYSICS-BASED PERFECTION
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

A fruity, physics-based puzzler that everybody should take a look at.

Developer: Ben Taylor
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 3GS

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

If any body’s going to make fruit juice in a large capacity, conveyor belts are likely to be a key part of the production line. And Juice Belts is a neat little physics-based puzzler from Ben Taylor which puts the player in control of those conveyor belts, building them up to help convey fruit from box to juicer.

It all starts off rather simple. A number of motors and wheels will appear on screen, with the player drawing on the belt in the right position to ensure no fruit goes to waste. Tapping the box of fruit sets the whole process in motion, with a score awarded at the end that’s dependent on how much fruit made it to be juice, and how successfully that came about. Its quite saddening, actually, those little anthropomorphic fruits are just so cute!

Although the first of the game’s 80 levels are rather straight forward, layers of complication are soon added into the mix. Motors that change direction, fans that blow fruit flying, cogs that can power other belts or adjust directions and zaps of electricity that turn fruit into tiny fruity chunks are just a portion of the things seen throughout. This difficulty curve is very well implemented. Just when I thought I had the art of conveyor belts mastered, something new is introduced to make me rethink my ways. For example, rotten fruit shows up, and you really don’t want that in fruit juice that’s meant for public consumption.

The game then opens up even more and gives the freedom to place motors, cogs and other items anywhere on the screen. It’s time to really start thinking — this kind of freedom is almost too much for me, often finding myself racking my brains only to fail time and time again. Which is where another handy feature comes in, the hint button, thanks for that!

I simply cannot give Juice Belts enough credit for the way it throws new things at the player. So much thought and effort has gone into this, and it shines through. If I was held at gunpoint and told to find something wrong with this game, I’m afraid this would probably be my last review here on 148Apps. I guess the closest I could come to a problem is that I found it awfully hard to get my head around all the spinning wheels and multi-directional motors at times. But the aforementioned hint button completely alleviates this.

Everybody that plays games on their iPhone should be heading to the App Store and grabbing this game. And, everybody that develops games for the iPhone should be looking at Juice Belts for a masterclass in difficulty progression. I just hope that there’s more levels to come in the future. I want more. I need more.