Panic in Sweets Land

Living up to the name, Panic in Sweets Land whisks away two patisserie bakers named Lime (the redhead) and Mint (the grumpy one) to the land of faeries, where they'll work together in a platform environment to liberate all the locals who have been entranced by "the Evil". It's so basic that it's adorable, and the witty dialogue both recognises and plays into how daft the whole thing is. I'm pretty sure it's a spin-off from a sweet making game, but I can't find out much about it, so chances are it never made it to the West.

Fun fact - the character voices are provided by J-Pop group Trysail

You're guided through your quest by Puffee, possibly the most over-cute mascot I've seen in some time (and my daughter watches Teeniepings so that's really saying something!) and throughout the game you'll level up your girls, make and equip new sweets using ingredients both found and purchased, which will give you buffs through the game. 

The controls are excellent and make full use of the buttons available - you can switch your characters at any time, with Lime providing pugilistic attacks, while Mint specialises in ranged attacks using her bow. Each has their own special magical attacks (these can be upgraded/changed) and super attacks to go along with their standard attack and blocking moves, plus you have the power to return evil possessed faeries to normal by using a special attack when the enemy health turns blue - rescue as many as you can instead of killing them and you'll get special bonuses. 

Each level has its own distinct look, from the lush forests, fiery mountains and frozen fields, each with new enemies and a boss to take care of when you reach the end. There's a lot of Alex Kidd DNA in this release, and that's no bad thing - after all, not every cute license has to be a Metroidvania, though you might not think it over the last few years!

The game is mostly using one or two planes, but it's never less than fun and attractive. Controls can be left on screen as well as a handy reminder.

Graphically the game is delightful, with sprites and backgrounds looking crisp and colourful. It's a very friendly game in all aspects too - you can recover magic by standing still, controls can be displayed across the bottom of the screen so that you're never confused and despite some cheesecake (which as a 45 year old man is more embarrassing than arousing these days) but for fans of such things, you're well served here - it's kept fun and flirty though with nothing I'd consider dubious on show - Mint in particular is not a fan, and some fourth wall breaking makes it more amusing.

The music is, much like the rest of the game, very sweet. Mostly forgettable but never intrusive, it blends into the game like the ingredients you need to collect. It's fully voiced in Japanese throughout too by J-Pop outfit Trysail, which adds some additional character.

Completing the game will net you two new modes - a time-attack mode for each level and a battle royale where you'll go for a high score. Both are fun enough and provide some extra challenge, especially if you've beaten the game on Nightmare mode.

When you reach a boss you get a colourful splash screen!

It's not all sweetness and light however; you can unlock new characters, but they can't be used in story mode and they take a LOT of points to unlock. Combat is fine but not particularly fluid, so you can't really get a rhythm going like you can with other games of this ilk. One odd choice you're asked to make is to pick a character to play as, but since you change on the fly, that's completely redundant. All minor nitpicks really, but enough to suggest a purchase during a sale rather than paying full price.

There's nothing spectacular going on here, it's a bright and colourful adventure game with some nice combat, lovely animation and eye-catching art, a fun one to play if you want something simple and none too challenging to spend some time with. At time of writing it's on sale for 50% off (an interesting launch strategy, let's see if it pays off for them) so for £10.49 I can easily recommend it, though I'd struggle to say it's worth the money at full price.