Hands-On Preview: “Granny Smith” from The Creators of Sprinkle [Video]
Here at Phandroid, we’ve been long time fans of the developer tour de force at Mediocre Games. Our love affair began last year when Mediocre introduced Sprinkle to the world at E3 2011 — in which we gave you guys an exclusive preview — and it was all downhill from there. Recently, we sat down with Mediocre in an interview where they took the wraps off their upcoming title, Granny Smith, scheduled to hit the Google Play Store in August. Before it does… (you knew this was coming) we’re here to give you guys another exclusive preview with our hands-on of an early, pre-release copy of Granny Smith, direct from the fine folks at Mediocre.
The premise of Granny Smith is simple: a young thief stole Mrs. Smith’s apples, and it’s up to granny to dust off the old skates, and get ’em back. The player guide’s granny in a high-speed chase across levels filled with slopes, jumps, and obstacles, across varying landscapes. The challenge lays not just in the game’s level design, but more in mastering the controls as well. I guess one could call Granny Smith a stunt-platform-racer, where the biggest challenge the player will face is keeping ‘ol granny landing safely on her feet.
Players take control of granny using only 2 buttons: one for jumpin’ and the other for canin’ (extending her cane). The cane part is simple enough. Extend the cane and granny attaches to clothes and power lines to perform totally wicked extreme grinds while soaring over obstacles. It’s the jumping part that involves a little more skill. The length of the button press gauges not only how high granny jumps (she’s been taking her glucosamine pills), but also the amount of somersaults performed in the air. Land on your head too many times, and the thief will make off with your apples. Stick a landing well enough, and you’ll receive bonus points.
At the end of each level you’re graded based on the amount of stars and points you’ve accumulated throughout the level. Apple’s are a little harder to come by (they’re sometimes hidden throughout the level, and you’ll have to beat the thief to ’em) but granny has a few tricks up her sleeve to keep the fat little thief from gaining the lead. Players can exchange coins for bonus items like a helmet (good for getting granny back on her feet after a bad landing), banana peels (useful for keeping a lead on the thief), and baseballs for when you wanna go on the offensive.
Mediocre promises 36 levels across 3 different landscapes when the game finally launches sometime this month. But enough with my jibber jabberin’ — let’s jump right into the game with our full hands-on preview of Granny Smith, coming soon to Android devices everywhere. After you watch, be sure to let us know what you think.
