Little Luca Review
Something is wrong... Oh where are the stars?! Little Luca, help us!!! We check out iOS indie puzzler Little Luca, where your job is to get the stars back after they fell all over the world.
Gameplay
The stars in the sky have all gone, and it is up to you to get them back. To do this you will have to help Luca guide his ball using physics and the environment around ninety levels (with more to come). To guide the ball, you need to morph the objects in the environment. Whether it is making hills and moon shapes bounce the ball up into the air at certain angles, or messing with air currents and gravity wells to guide the ball around in space.
Each level seems easy enough at first glance, until you need to move the environment around and then it can become a game of luck. Miss knocking the ball by the smallest margin and it can go off in a different direction, or air currents won't carry it high enough from the wrong angle. If you're intent on getting all three stars in each level you'll quickly learn how to get around. When it gets too frustrating just take a break and chances are the solution will come to you next time.
Visuals
Little Luca has a cute retro pixel art style, although in the stages you won't see much of that, as most of the play area is made up of shapes and objects to manipulate. When you tap on the screen, you can bounce the ball off objects. You won't know quite how that object will move when you tap it.
Sound
To go with the pixel art visuals the game has nice chip tune music. The music changes for each different world, but it replays so it could get monotonous after awhile. However, it's not a game that you will likely have extended gameplay sessions with.
Control
Everything is controlled by a tap or holding down on the screen. It can be done anywhere on the screen and it will make every object do their action, which is handy.
Conclusion
Little Luca is a fun physics-based game that's easy to learn and excel in, if you're willing to put in the time. It might not be suited to trying to beat every level in one sitting, but when you have a few minutes to spare it's a fun time killer with a pleasant visual style and soundtrack to match. With the physics-based puzzle games filled with flinging-based games it's a pleasant change, and one worth playing.