Shrek Sugar Fever review: The first 80 levels

 Shrek finally farts and stomps his way onto mobile devices, but will he be embraced or does he wear out his welcome? I find out in the first 80 levels.

Developer: Genera Games
Publisher: Genera Games
Platforms: Android (Version reviewed), iOS
Release Date: August 9, 2017

Anybody who’s anybody has heard the name Shrek and knows he’s a big green ogre with a Scottish accent. He can be a little rough around the edges and takes some getting used to, but eventually will warm your heart. Since the first film’s arrival in 2001, Shrek has grown into a worldwide phenomenon and gave Mike Myers something other than Austin Powers to take credit for. To date, the Shrek franchise has spawned four films, 30 video games and over a dozen shorts, spin-offs and educational specials.

Most recently, Shrek (along with his sidekick, Donkey) received his very first mobile game on both Android and iOS called Shrek Sugar Fever. Sugar Fever is a puzzle game that could be best compared to Pet Rescue Saga in which you destroy blocks of the same color to help your friends.

For me, the most appealing aspect of the Shrek world is all the friends he has accumulated over his fifteen-year career. Characters such as Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, Fiona, and Artie give the series layers of entertainment; like an onion.

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However, Shrek Sugar Fever, unfortunately, centers around the first film and the only friends of Shrek you’ll see is Donkey, Pinocchio, Gingy, and the three little pigs. The story is simple in that you go from land to land saving your little friends with the help of Donkey over and over again.

Sugar Fever’s graphics have a great flow and the system of tapping to destroy blocks is very responsive. The animations of Shrek and his cohorts are lively and enjoyable to watch while you think of your next move.

An interesting element of the game is that the puzzles vary in how they’re completed. While some ask you to simply “save your friends,” in some levels there is only one way to do it successfully, so you’ll need to destroy bricks in a specific order if you want to be successful.

The game can get a little repetitive at first, because you do nine levels of saving your friends and then a boss battle with the evil ruler Farquad. That is where the game changes and you are now commanded to only destroy a certain color or two while the short man blocks your moves with cake.

The most impressive part of this game are the sounds, which brought a smile to my your face. I don’t know if Mike Myers did the voice for this game (it certainly isn’t broadcasted anywhere) or if they used snippets from the films or a really good impersonator, but it is spot on. When you beat a level, you are rewarded with fireworks, the cheers of your tiny friends, and Shrek (or Donkey) commending you. Shrek is Shrek, after all, and that means a few vulgar body gases will be released.

Usually, puzzle games have a small limit of power-ups available to the player, but Shrek Sugar Fever has five; counting one that will become chargeable during gameplay. Depending on the level, one of the power-ups will be free after destroying a large number of blocks, allowing Shrek to unleash his fury.

The power-ups can destroy whole columns after a stomp, a certain color with a hilarious burp, or even a group of nine blocks with a well-placed fart that emits a green mist. You’ll need these extras, because there are tons of obstacles in this game that impede your progress–all candy related.

Shrek Sugar Fever is an obvious clone of many other games and is not trying to hide it. In fact, Shrek at one point even says “Let’s crush some candy.” And while they throw more obstacles and power-ups than most at you, you can’t help but want a little more from this game.

To me, it feels like Genera Games approached Dreamworks with this game and they just said, “Fine, do it.” Shrek is their baby, and it just seems they have given up on it after all these years in both video games and film. It just feels like there could have been so much more in Sugar Fever.

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The biggest missing character, and my daughter agrees with me, is the suave, orange swashbuckler himself: Puss in Boots. He has become a fan favorite and quite famous in his own right so perhaps he didn’t have the time to make an appearance.

Even if you wanted to limit the amount of good guys, then why not provide more villains such as Dragon (before her marriage to Donkey), Charming, or his bipolar mother? When you’re fighting Farquad for the eighth time, the game begins to feel stagnant and slightly repetitive.

I think that they realize this, and that is why they give new players 24 hours of free lives to start with, because they’re trying to get you hooked. But sadly, the more you play this game, the more boring it gets and Shrek’s fun accent and bodily vapors do little to change that.

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