Achievement Smiles is one of those games where the achievements are basically the main reason I am opening it in the first place. I play as a little character called Smile and move through small 3D levels while trying to rescue birds trapped in cages. The actual adventure is fairly simple, with enemies, collectibles and small areas to explore, but the huge achievement list is what makes the game feel completely different from a normal platformer. I can finish a level and suddenly see a ridiculous number of achievements appearing, which is pretty much the entire joke behind the game.
The basic gameplay is actually better than I expected. I can move around the levels, jump, collect the blue energy spheres and use the energy to buy spells from the Magic Mouse. The spells give me a few extra things to work with instead of making the whole game just about walking from one cage to another. I also have to free all the birds in an area before I can properly move on, so there is at least a reason for me to explore the level instead of rushing straight to the exit. It is simple, but I can see what the developer was going for.
The achievement system is obviously the strange part. There are thousands of achievements attached to the game, and a lot of them are designed to unlock very easily. I can start the game and see achievements begin appearing without having to do anything particularly impressive. That makes Achievement Smiles useful for me as an achievement focused game, but it also means the achievement count does not represent a huge amount of actual content. I cannot look at the giant number and assume I am getting thousands of meaningful challenges, because most of the appeal comes from the novelty of seeing so many unlocks happen at once.
The actual levels also have some problems. The controls can feel a little rough, and the platforming does not have the precision I would expect from a game where movement is meant to be important. The enemies are fairly basic and there is not a huge amount of variety in what I am doing from one section to another. Once I understand the basic goal, I am mostly repeating the same style of exploration, collecting and rescuing. That makes the game much less interesting when I stop caring about the achievement numbers and start judging it purely as a platforming adventure.
I do like the colourful presentation though. Smile and the birds have a cheerful look, and the game clearly wants everything to feel cute and light rather than serious. The Magic Mouse and spells also add a little bit of personality to the otherwise simple levels. It is not a visually impressive game by modern standards, but I think the simple style fits what it is trying to be. There is something amusing about such a bright and innocent looking game being packed with an absurd number of achievements.
The biggest thing I have to decide is whether I am judging Achievement Smiles as a normal game or as an achievement focused experience. As a normal platformer, there is not enough depth here for me to rate it particularly highly. The movement, enemies and level design are all fairly basic, and I can see most of what the game has to offer without spending a huge amount of time with it. As an achievement game, though, it is very effective at what it is trying to provide. I can make quick progress, see constant unlocks and get through the whole thing without having to deal with an especially difficult challenge.
Overall, Achievement Smiles is more of an achievement hunting novelty than a game I would play purely for the gameplay. I like the cute presentation, simple levels, spell system and the fact that there is still a small adventure underneath all those achievements. At the same time, the platforming is rough, the content is limited and the huge achievement count can make the game feel more like a gimmick than a proper reward system. For me, that keeps it in the middle rather than pushing it into the really low scores, because there is still a playable little game here and it succeeds at being exactly the sort of achievement focused experience it was designed to be.
Rating: 6.5/10
