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If I were to sum up Leo’s Fortune in only a few words. Then it would be ‘The Thinking Man’s Sonic’. The game is developed by 1337 & Senri LLC, who are just a group of three independent developers, one who was the lead on Battlefield 2! This charming little platformer released on Android and IOS last year and was met with good critical reception, now Leo has made his way to new gen consoles with a shiny coat of 1080p and visual upgrade surpassing its mobile counterpart.

Leo’s fortune is both a good platformer and a cunning puzzler. You play as a small blue Tribble-like creature called Leo who has a very impressive mustache. The plot consists of Leo going heading out on a journey to investigate who has stolen his gold, and like an episode of Jeremy Kyle, he suspects that his own family members that have taken it. However, there’s a nice moral to the story, and it’s pretty good; which is very rare in budget titles. As you progress through five chapters, you collect your lost gold coins while solving puzzles and dodging evil contraptions such as spikes and buzz saws! The game also has a great soundtrack too with each chapter having a unique and well composed theme.

Leo’s Fortune looks really good on the Xbox One.

Aesthetically Leo’s Fortune is very pretty, as you journey through the five chapters; you come across different environments, which are beautifully crafted, all with their own unique visual themes. They also come with their set of unique puzzles and deadly traps, which will slow down your progress for sure. Some of the puzzles are very clever, and most stages are enjoyable to traverse and to solve. The challenges increase in difficulty as one would expect in the later stages but some can be extremely frustrating.

There are also particular traps that are just repeated three times in a row, which become predictable and somewhat tiresome. As you complete each stage, you’re met with an awards screen that presents Gold Stars for coins collected, Deaths and Time it took to complete. Completing a level in the fastest time without dying will with no doubt be a tasty challenge for anyone willing to make an attempt and get their name at the top of the leader board. Collecting the stars also unlocks bonus levels for each chapter. There are also collectables to discover, which awards you with an achievement upon collection.

There are a few niggles that I came across while playing, and my major complaint is with the loading screens. They’re pretty lengthy as you start each level, and it’s something I don’t expect to see on a new gen console. Later stages are simply frustrating rather than challenging, the clever puzzles you come across in the first three chapters are replaced with spikes and buzz saws galore, which left me with a fairly high death-counter. The game itself is quite short; and I beat the five chapters in just a couple of hours. Upon completion, there is a super hard difficulty to play through in which you must beat each level with one life, which adds some replay value.

“Leo´s Fortune” goes the wheel of torument

In overall Leo’s fortune is a good game; it has a nice story, and it is an enjoyable to play through. It just suffers from some unreasonable loading times, and a few harsh difficulty spikes where monotonous moments win out over creativity. However, I do recommend this to those looking for a nice little platformer to pass the time. It’s reasonably priced and for the most part, an enjoyable experience.

Pros:
+ Nice Soundtrack
+ Good Story
+ Impressive visuals & art direction

Cons:
– Some frustrating moments
– Loading Screens
– Short

tgg grade 3.5 out of 5

Verdict: 3.5/5
Leo’s Adventure is in a way the ‘Thinking Man’s Sonic’ with interesting puzzles and a fun story to boot. It’s slightly marred by long loading screens and frustrating moments but is an enjoyable game overall.

Title: Leo’s Fortune
Developer: 1337 & Senri LLC
Format: Xbox One,
Genre: Platformer, Puzzler
Resolution: 1080p
Release date: PS4 on 8th September in North America and 10th September in Europe, before heading to Xbox One on 11th September.
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Spent time: 3 hours
Average grade internationally: TBA% Gamerankings.com
PEGI age rating: E for everyone
Price: $6.99USD