Bug Academy Review

Bug Academy is a crazy action game in which you control a swarm of cute little insects and try to guide them through a series of lessons and exercises. Finish all the lessons and pass the final exam to become a Bug Academy graduate! Bug Academy is the product of a successful Kickstarter project and is now available on all platforms. Developed by Igrek Games and published by Ultimate Games, it’s fantastic to see a unique puzzle concept title make the leap to consoles.

There is plenty to do here as there are thirty separate levels to work your bug magic through. The game flies you off into a tutorial where you will acquire the skills to learn navigation and some of the elements you’ll need to progress from level to level. You’ll notice straight off the bat that the game is aesthetically colourful and cartoony, blending its use of colours beautifully within each level.

Bug Academy will have you controlling four different types of insects which include flies, fireflies, mosquitos and bumble bees. Each class of insect contains several lessons at the beginning of the run through leading into the challenging stuff. You’ll start off as the fly class where you’ll be able to group up into a bunch of four to complete the tasks throughout the levels. You’ll have the ability to pick up and move things, put out fires and even chuck cows randomly about. By running through the first initial fly tasks you’ll unlock the opportunity to go onto firefly and so on.

You’ll be waking up other insects en route and this will prove very useful as the more in your swarm the easier it becomes to move objects. The first initial fly encounters are very straightforward with no real difficult challenge. The further you travel through the game, the harder it will become. There isn’t much difference in the fly compared with the firefly, other than the latter will give you the ability to see well in the dark areas of the levels. For instance, you’ll be able to fly into mines and even rob a museum. I was quite amused by the fact you had to sneak past security guards, except these were cows. You’re going in intending to steal a diamond so proceed with caution.

The mosquito differs greatly from the fly variety in terms of their features. As the mosquito, you’ll have the functionality to suck up liquids such as water and hot sauce. Sounding crazy yet? It certainly is in its own unique, wonderful way. The hot sauce acts as an accelerant to make you fly faster, and the water elements allow you to extinguish fires and hot spots. I bet you’re on the edge of your seat in anticipation to find out what the power of the bumblebee is? The bumblebees can slow time down for a short period of time in order to aim at targets, but you can’t do this as a solo bee and you must gather a swarm in order to infiltrate your targets.

You’ll want to be focusing on your best run through as there is a star level system to drive your ambition. Up to a maximum of three levels to show how well you played during each level, which is defined by bronze, silver and gold stars. You must be hitting these stars in order to progress further during the game and also to purchase items in the shop between level plays. These items are mainly hats that are cosmetic, but add a little humour to your insects. If you struggle to achieve gold stars, then restarting your run is simple as a few button presses and you’re away again. I attempted some levels repeatedly trying to better myself. This quickly becomes addictive.

The mechanics of the game are fluid and smooth and whilst the controls are wonky and confusing at times, purely to the speed you’re moving, it is still super satisfying to attempt to get that perfect run through a level. You’ll need to keep trying and trying, and if at first you don’t succeed, pick yourself up and try again. Whilst I said there is plenty to play through, these levels can be finished in just a few short minutes, so if you’re the kind to smash through games then longevity may be super short for you. I found real longevity in trying to achieve higher scores on the global Leaderboards, although as I get older my reflexes simply won’t allow me to hit number one on the scoreboards.

Overall Bug Academy is a fantastically fun title that I’m glad was successful in its Kickstarter mission. You can see that the development team has worked really hard to achieve variety in mechanics and levels. If you’re looking for something unique on consoles and casual to boot, then you should consider Bug Academy.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.