Bug Academy is a colorful and fun game developed by Polish Studio Igrek Games and published by Ultimate Games S.A. Bug Academy is a 2.5D arcade game where you play as different flying insects completing different classes to move on to the next one. Each level is filled with wacky mechanics, silly tasks and equally fun to listen to music. This review of Bug Academy was made on the Steam version of Bug Academy. A Nintendo Switch version is also in the works which will be released later.
Suiting to the name of the game, Bug Academy is essentially a set of different classes for different small flying insects that you have to pass in order to move on. The game follows the generic formula of most mobile games these days where you are awarded stars on the basis of your performance in a level and then according to the stars accumulated, more and more levels are unlocked for you to play. The best performance will land you a gold star, normal performance a silver star and a mediocre performance a bronze star.
This being said, the levels in Bug Academy are not too difficult rather they are extremely fun that you automatically end up playing each level at least 3 or 4 times before moving on to the next level. You start off with the Flies where you get to complete different classes which include delivering fridges and washing machines, picking up lost cows and bringing them back and even building a tower with different blocks. Each of these classes come with their own score systems and at the end of the level, you are awarded a star based on your performance.
The better you perform at each level, the bigger the star you get. As you keep completing levels, you will continue to unlock more classes. Continue completing classes with your current insect type and pretty soon you will unlock the next insect type. At this point, there are four different insect types that you can play with. You must finish a certain amount of classes with the current insect type before you are granted access to the next type. From Flies, you move on to Fireflies, Mosquitos and finally Bees.
Since each insect type is unique and has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, the missions for different insect types are also different. The levels pretty much work out in the same general pattern but the goal of each class is different. The game also focuses a lot on strength in numbers. You start each level with only a single bug but as you explore the level, you will find more insects or your type which will then help you in the level. Unlocking the whole pack will make the level extremely easy and convenient. You can easily control a whole swarm of insects without any problems in movement.
As you unlock more insect types, you will notice the levels to be a little repetitive but since each incest type is unique, the level will fully utilize their potential to make the level unique and engaging. Some of the best levels in the game include the firefighting levels as the mosquitos, castle fight as the flies and hunting ghosts as the Fireflies. Each insect type brings its own unique variants of levels and you can clear them using different in-game mechanics such as lifting objects, sucking in and then spraying fluids and using your lights to illuminate your path.
The soundtrack and generic sounds of the game are also quite funky. The menu sounds as you navigate around the menu, the stage countdown sounds and the soundtrack in levels, every sound in the game is well thought after and sits really well according to the humorous theme of the game and different levels you get the play. The developer actually calls the soundtrack ‘buggy soundtrack’ which is quite evident when you listen to it in the game. Certain levels are actually more fun because of their accompanying soundtrack.
You can easily play the whole game in just one sitting and unlocking all of the levels will take around 2 hours on casual play. A single level is complete within 3 or 4 minutes on average but the replayability of Bug Academy is huge. The levels are so much fun that you will always play the same level 2 or 3 times just for fun or trying to get a better star. This greatly increases the life cycle of the game. Even after you are done with all the levels, Bug Academy is a game that can be revisited later just to enjoy the funky levels and mechanics.
Final Verdict:
2020 is almost 20 days in and this is so far the most fun game I’ve played this year. The semi-ragdoll mechanics are really fun as you pick up cows and throw them around, catch ghosts and even steal expensive jewels from high-security museums as fireflies. The whole world in the levels is destructible and gives you the freedom to proceed with the level completion which is really fun. It is great for short and quick play sessions where you can quickly jump in a level or two and leave and even for longer play sessions. The world leaderboard scores ensure that you keep trying to be the very best in levels and tempts you to try the last level one more time. I will highly recommend Bug Academy to anyone who is looking for a fun, little game to play every now and then. The addition of crawling insects would have been even more fun.
Final Score: 9/10
