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by Infogrames
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I really
should be doing two separate reviews. I mean, these are two games that
are distinct from one another and I should be able to come up with
something unique to say about each one. Unfortunately, the only
difference that I could find between the games is that the Gameboy has a
top down 2D perspective and the Gamecube uses the same perspective with
3D graphics. Sure the graphics are a little different but they are both
adequate to their respective systems, and the Gamecube version does
include a forgettable multi-player mode. Its the same game, or at the
very least, I have the same feelings of ambivalence towards both games.
If ever I wished that I could give a game 2 1/2 stars, this is that
game. My ambivalence is the stuff that ennui is made of.
Sometimes the
hardest thing about writing a review is finding the right angle. If the
game isnt particularly interesting, I have to find some way to make
writing about the game engaging. If the gameplay is mediocre or
standard, I try to find some way to discuss the games themes and values
and how they reflect us as a society. But sometimes I simply draw a
complete blank. I sit down at the computer without a strategy or plan
and I start writing with the hope that the simple act of committing
words to my computer screen will generate the review that my editor has
requested. Ive played the games, I understand the controls and have
appreciated or in this case unappreciated the graphics; I know what the
game does well and what it does poorly. But I still find myself grasping
for some type of way to approach Zapper: The Wicked Cricket. I sit here
with the feeling that I have absolutely nothing interesting to say or
write. It is a writers worst feeling to have a forum and have nothing
useful to present in that forum.
Lately,
Ive been commenting a lot on how content we are with mediocrity in
videogames. I worry that if I were to go down that road again, Id be
beating a dead horse. I have to admit that I actually had some high
hopes for Zapper, or moderate hopes at the very least. I had never
played the game before, nor had I heard anything about it in the form of
previews or press releases. I had hopes for the game because it was a
new franchise. This, I thought to myself, is a game that is brave enough
to stand on its own without the aid of gamer nostalgia or movie tie-ins.
It takes a great deal of chutzpah (Happy Chanukah one and all) to
release a game that has nothing to sell it other than its gameplay and
the reviews of gamers like myself. The biggest games of this year all
seem to stand so high because they are standing on the shoulders of
earlier games or other pop culture icons. Mario, Metroid, Tony Hawk, GTA
Vice City and Tom Clancys Splinter Cell all came to the table with a
well established legacy to recommend themselves to the world.
When a new
game comes along that is not tied to any known brand or product I have
the faintest of hopes that it will be the next Frequency or SSX. After a
few minutes with each of the incarnations of Zapper, I soon learned that
these games were nothing more than a simple marriage of the original
Super Mario and Frogger with some updated graphics thrown in for good
measure. Unfortunately this game failed to crib the most essential
elements of those two games is completely lacking in tension or urgency.
In Mario there was a clock counting down and in Frogger there were all
those cars racing at you. In Zapper, there is little that is pushing you
to advance the plot (The plot in both games is identical if youre
concerned that Im glossing over both of the games. There really is
nothing to distinguish the games from one another other than the
graphics). Sure theres a wild magpie thats kidnapped your little
brother who wreaking havoc all around, but I was honestly never all that
worried about the little brother. Maybe I didnt have the time to
develop the necessary emotional connection with my fraternal cricket.
The pedestrian pacing of this game is virtually sleep inducing. Zapper
adopts the over-head perspective of Frogger along with its penchant for
hopping. Zapper is also able to zap open crates, travel to hidden levels
and must destroy a series of magpie eggs along the way. There are also
some blue orbs that look mysteriously like coins to collect in each
level.
There is
the faintest of story linesno real background is given for these
characters. In fact, its almost as if the game had been around for a
few generations and developers simply assumed that gamers were well
acquainted with the plight of Zapper and his rivalry with Maggie the
Magpie. I initially wanted to know more about these characters, but the
more I played, the less I actually cared about learning their stories.
The graphics
on both systems are pleasantly colorful. I think that it was the
graphics that really appealed to my two kids. Both my four-year-old and
my two-year-old proclaimed Zapper a good game, but that was a purely
superficial judgement. The characters and animations are cute; theyre
just not engaging. When my son asked me why I didnt really like the
game, I tried to teach him the word derivative but I dont think it
sunk in. The games look just fine, but as with every other aspect of the
gameno new ground is being forged.
The controls
for Zapper are fairly well thought out, if a little annoying. They have
incorporated an interesting turn move that is controlled by the use of
the left or right shoulder button. At first it was incredibly
frustrating when I meant to turn to the left and ended up jumping to the
left instead. Every push of the D pad or control stick will move you one
hop in that direction. Sometimes jumps have to be timed just right. It
took me a little while to get the control scheme down where I remembered
to turn before hopping, but once I did, it played just fine. Secret
areas and bonuses can be unlocked like in most every other game. Nothing
new there.
Here I am at
the end of the review and I think that Ive finally discovered my angle:
I hate crickets. They are everywhere in my house and their incessant
chirping is slowly driving me insane. I could use my experiences with
the real crickets as an analogy for my experiences with Zapper. It
really could work. Unfortunately, Id have to go back to the beginning
of the review and start over. If either of the Zapper games had been
better than they were, I might have considered it, but I dont want to
spend any more time playing, thinking, or writing about this game than I
absolutely have to.
Jason Frank (12/22/2002) |
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Snapshot
Ups:
Bright and colorful graphics on both platforms; if
Frogger was just a little too intense for you, this may be your game.
Downs:
Textbook definition of derivative and pedestrian
(adj.).
Platform:
Gamecube and Game Boy Advance
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