Game - Organic Panic
Platform - Xbox One
Developer/Publisher - Last Limb Studios
Release Date - April 1st, 2016
My family and I are health nuts. My wife and I eat mostly organic food, are knowledgeable about medicine and exercise routinely with our children. We make it a priority and now our oldest, 7 year old Mikey Jr, asks for fruit and vegetables rather than cookies and chips for a snack. In fact, someone asked him why one time and his response was "So my heart can stay healthy". That's my buddy.
This is pretty much the message in Organic Panic and I loved the game for it. I checked. It's literally the only game available which focuses on a healthy diet and the best part is that it uses food as its main characters. You play as one of four food items as characters in Cherry, Kiwi, Carrot and Potato. Each has their own ability such as Kiwi's water shooting or Cherry's sand gun that can cut through rock. You play through a variety of over 200 levels organized in both single player and co-op, while fighting enemies such as hamburgers and french fries. Each of these levels are rather short and take at most about two minutes to complete. You earn points based on how you complete the level which is broken down into three separate categories.
- Beat all enemies
- Get Bonus Crystal
- Find the portal
The portal grade is unusual because it is just the exit point of the level, so you need to find it or you'll just be running around. Each level increases in difficulty by adding more obstacles, more enemies or some combination of the two. You do have the ability to switch back and forth between characters on the fly as long as they are unlocked, and this adds an aspect of creativeness to the level. Most of the time it isn't necessary to switch to another character, but it may just take you a bit longer to beat the level if you don't. Since there is no time bonus to beating a level, the main benefit for doing so is your own imagination. In a game that entails using Kiwi to beat hamburgers and french fries, your imagination is the best part about it. After all, it is fun to drown a french fry with a kiwi, set fire to a piece of cheese with Carrot and sand blast a hamburger with Cherry all in one level. In fact, simply reading that sentence should have made you laugh, and that is the entire key to Organic Panic in a nutshell.
Organic Panic's claim to fame is its story. It focuses on its four characters of cherry, kiwi, carrot and potato in their fight against the now corrupt meat and cheese. The four healthy foods must eliminate the bad ones and make the world clean again. It's 100% a metaphor for our own bodies and health and I love it. In a world today where kids are so much more sedentary than when I was growing up (I'm 37), nutrition and exercise is a major component for our children.
The game is organized through multiple chapters each containing a varying amount of levels. Organic Panic's best part is its story and the message it contains. Unfortunately, many people may miss out on how great it is because it's entirely optional. At the beginning of each level, you have the ability to either play the first stage right out of the gate or check out the story progression. It's organized in a slide show format similar to a comic book, but doesn't have to be read. I understand making an animated scene would have probably made the movie go over budget and that's fine. With such a great and important message for today's kids and society in general, I wish that Organic Panic would have made the story slides a mandatory part of the game. If it's one thing gamers respond to, it's good messages and emotional tie ins to real life. Regardless of how silly a piece of kiwi drowning a hamburger is, the metaphor is clear as day and I wish there was more of a mandatory focus on it as it is Organic Panic's focal point.
Since Organic Panic is an action platformer and the levels are short, there is rarely a lull in the action. While it's not too difficult to earn the highest score in each level by finding the crystal, certain characters do make it easier than others. You start the game with Cherry as mentioned. Your main weapon is shooting sand at enemies. While this drains their health, it does not slow them down at all. As a result, you're forced to continuously jump over them and shoot from the other side in order to avoid getting struck. Cherry is also incredibly weak. After all, she (or is it he?) is a cherry. It only takes about three hits or so to die with Cherry. Carrot, Potato and Kiwi take a little bit more damage, and their abilities also slow down enemies. If Kiwi drowns an enemy, you can then use the resulting water to reach higher areas of elevation. Carrot's fire attack slows enemies down and allows you several extra seconds to avoid an attack.
Different bonus abilities pop up in the levels like extra speed, increase power etc that all help take out the enemies in different ways. Certain points in levels will see you get stuck with no way of moving forward. For example, one level early on with Cherry forced me to tunnel through rock using a timed ability in order to reach the end portal. I unfortunately didn't reach the end in time because of the angle I took and had no way of completing the level. A simple press of the right stick and you reset back to the start. Since each level takes about a minute as noted, it's in no way a hinderance. In fact, it actually helps because you can do this unlimited amount of times with no recourse. It helps you try different ways to complete the level as well as beating your own time/score on each.
Graphically speaking, Organic Panic is absolutely gorgeous. Crisp, bright colors grace the screen in its 2.5D environment. Backgrounds stand out against the foreground and the environments match the message that the story is trying to tell. In stages centered around the unhealthy hamburgers, although the colors are bright, they are of the darker and more morose variety. Levels with the focus on the heathy counterparts give a feeling of freshness with brighter more robust colors. Organic Panic's music is also incredibly well done. It features a mix of all upbeat tracks which escalates and deescalates corresponding with the action in game.
The story and character abilities in Organic Panic are the highlights of the game. Platforming abilities are crisp and the puzzle aspect isn't overdone. With each level being so short, the puzzle part is more making your way through the entire level than an individual puzzle located within the level itself. It's not one of those "turn this knob clockwise" puzzles, but rather "Ok, how do I beat this entire level?" puzzles. Even though the gameplay is incredibly fun and captivating, I think the story and Organic Panic's message was the developer's intention. Unfortunately, I think a lot may be missed because of the impatience many younger gamers portray these days. Even though you can skip the story, don't do it. It's an incredible message. In fact, how Last Limb was able to use a children's technique to teach adults was pretty uncanny. Most children's shows use colorful characters like Elmo and songs to keep children's attention and teach them lessons. With the gameplay organization geared toward adults, I respected the irony in using a basic children's setup to teach adults a message. In a nutshell, Organic Panic's message is basically "You're an adult, stop eating like a child" with a focus on healthy, holistic eating.
Overall, there isn't really anything wrong with Organic Panic. It's a platformer with great mechanics and uses what it has in each level to the most of its ability. Whether or not you are a fan of platformers doesn't matter, as you should play this game for the fun factor and story if nothing else. Organic Panic is available April 1st on Xbox One and we definitely recommend purchasing it for hours of fun, laughs and your future health. Cheers!
BOTTOM LINE
