If you’re somewhat new to the world of iOS gaming, it’s possible you haven’t heard about Chris Neveu’s adorable little platformer Miss Claire Garden ($2.99), which launched way back in January of 2011. However, last week the game received a massive, long-overdue update, and if you somehow have missed out on the game before, now is the time to introduce yourself to Miss Claire. The game is largely built around the mechanic of picking up items and enemies that will be instantly familiar to fans of Super Mario Bros. 2, or at least the non-Japanese version of it (which is actually a game called Doki Doki Panic that was reskinned with Mario characters and released as Super Mario Bros. 2 outside of Japan). Miss Claire Garden takes the item-picking-up idea and runs with it, and the original 2011 release is considered by many to be one of the top platforming games on iOS.
Last week, more than three years after launching, Neveu has given Miss Claire Garden a modern refresh adding in all the types of bells and whistles that have become commonplace in iOS gaming over the past few years. This includes 4-inch widescreen support, Universal support for iPads, iOS 7 controller support, and Game Center achievements. In addition to that, there’s a ton of new enhancements to the game itself, like fully redone HD graphics, 60fps smoothness, a new checkpoint system, eight brand new levels, more “feathers" to collect for completionists, and various other new items and gameplay mechanics. It truly feels like a brand new game now, and with that tere’s a brand spanking new trailer showing off the newly-updated Miss Claire Garden.
Miss Claire Garden, as I mentioned already, is considered by many to be one of iOS’s best platformers, and it has quite a dedicated following in our forums. And they’re right, it’s a great platformer. Beyond that, it’s refreshing to see a one-man developer pour so much time and effort into an update like this so many years after the fact, when it almost certainly wasn’t a financially lucrative choice to do so. Rather, you could tell when Miss Claire Garden released that it was a labor of love, and you can feel that same love resulted in this latest update. It also means that hopefully a whole new generation of iOS gamers will be able to check it out for the first time, so if you like platforming games and have a spare dollar lying around, give Miss Claire Garden a shot.
