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by Bam!
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 Judging from the dreck that overwhelms our Saturday morning schedule, true
genius in the world of cartoons is an uncommon occurrence. Dexter’s Laboratory
is that rare cartoon that has the ability to appeal to both adults and children.
Fortunately, the makers of Dexter’s Laboratory for the Game Boy Advance have created
a game that will appeal to both adults and children as well. This is the kind of game that
you hope for as a reviewer but so rarely see. It has all of the strengths of a solid
platformer with so few of the genre’s inherent weaknesses. Not only is it an
entertaining game, but it capitalizes heavily on the style and humor of the franchise
without alienating those who don’t have the Cartoon Network piped into their house. Dexter’s sister has been playing with the cloning machine and created havoc
with a legion of Dee Dees. Your responsibility is to collect the rampant clones and try to
restore order to the lab. It’s a premise right out of the series, which only adds
credibility to the game. There are a number of tools and gadgets that you have to employ
to work your way through the levelsYou must pay attention and use your head—a rare
thing in most platformers today. There are some very clever puzzles laid out through the
game that will keep you guessing but won’t have you tearing your hair out in
frustration. Dexter’s Laboratory employs your standard run, jump, punch, shoot
elements, but it’s the puzzles that add a much needed depth to the gameplay.
The graphics are great. There’s a real nice use
of color and the backgrounds are alive with detail and animations. The simple lines and
style of the show are faithfully recreated on the Gameboy Advance.
 Another great thing about this game is the quantity of gameplay.
Unfortunately, so many handheld games can be finished in an all too brief sitting. Not
here. This isn’t a game that you’re going to even finish in a night. There are
dozens of cloned Dee Dees on a multitude of levels to round up before all is said and
done.
The only blemish on this game lies in its controls. They are a little tricky and
imprecise which accounted for a few moments of frustration. The isometric 3D view made
some of the jumps hard to judge especially on moving platforms. These frustrations were
few and far between, and they shouldn’t discourage you from picking this game and
giving it a try.
 Bam has been producing some of the most consistently entertaining
Game Boy Advance games on the market, and I can only hope that they’ll be the ones to
handle the inevitable Samurai Jack game. This is one of the few platformers I’ve
played in a long that doesn’t feel like another bastardization of Mario. And that is
a good thing. Fans of Dexter will love this game, and those who have never seen the show
should be thoroughly entertained.
Jason Frank (11/20/2001) |
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Snapshot
Ups: Nice graphics; good sense of humor; fun puzzles.
Downs: Some tricky control and perspective issues.
Platform: GBA
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