Nobody especially enjoys eating their greens, but Spanish developers Dolores Entertainment really seem to have quite a beef with plant-based food produce. In Ice Cream Surfer, “Evil Broccoli” has put together an army to destroy the “flavour universe” and force people to eat tasteless vegetables. We’re not sure why he wants to increase his chances of being eaten, but we’re all in favour of existing on a diet of cakes and sweets, so screw you, Broccoli.
Players guide one of five Ice Cream Surfers through a series of horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up levels, blasting all kinds of food items out of the sky as they hunt down the belligerent Broccoli. It’s not just green stuff, though – some of our favourite treats seem to have turned heel and joined forces with the violent vegetables. Actual French toast, bowls of ramen, and even waffles in bikinis will do their best to ruin your day. As you might expect, each level culminates in a fight against an oversized boss.
It’s all adorably cute and kooky, but apart from its presentation, Ice Cream Surfer doesn’t really have anything to make itself stand out from the pack. Gameplay is on the bare bones side, with each playable character only having a single weapon. They all feel different enough to make it worth trying each character out, but a little more variety wouldn’t go amiss. The usual gems and tokens can be collected to power up your weapon and build up your special attack meter, but that’s pretty much all there is to it. The one hit kill rule is in force here, and dying resets your weapon to its most basic power, which might not have been the greatest idea considering the inclusion of some unpredictable enemy behaviour and questionable hitboxes that can occasionally prove to be a little frustrating. Originally designed for short bursts of play on mobile platforms, the majority of players will be able to make their way to the end credits within an hour or so at the very most, unlocking a digital comic on the main menu filling in some of the backstory that the game itself doesn’t waste any time telling us about.
Fans of Parodius or Harmful Park will likely get some enjoyment out of the presentation, and we can imagine this going down really well with anyone who has youngsters in the house, especially with the inclusion of two player co-op. Ice Cream Surfer is decent enough, but all things considered, it’s maybe a little on the basic side to earn a full recommendation.
ICE CREAM SURFER / DEVELOPER: DOLORES ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, SWITCH (REVIEWED), XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
