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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Lego Star Wars for the GameCube, despite releasing six months after its sister versions for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, is the same fun adventure you’ve experienced before. It’s got the primary characters for all of the first three episodes; it’s got gorgeous, realistic environments that Star Wars is known for; and it’s got a plethora of little tricks, force powers, extras, and secrets, and thanks to the GC version, it’s now got them – intact – on the market’s most family-friendly console. If this seems like a recipe for success, it is.

Lego Star Wars comes complete with the saga’s first three episodes, a bonus “episode”, and a ton of goodies to collect, including character biographies, tips, and gameplay extras (super large blasters, moustaches, invincibility, and about a dozen more). The game begins by casting players as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (you can “tag” characters to determine whom you’d rather control) and sets them in Dexter’s Diner, the HQ of Lego Star Wars. Characters you unlock as you proceed throughout all the episodes will appear in the Diner and you’ll then be able to use them in free mode, but as you first begin, you’re stuck in story mode with only one episode and one level available: Episode I, level one. Each episode has at least five levels, and each level can only be unlocked by playing through its proceeding one. The fact that Traveller’s Tales connected all the episodes to the Diner and then encouraged players to experiment with the surroundings is more than cute, as it quickly gets the game’s main point across: to proceed in this version of the Star Wars universe, you’ll have to use the force – a lot. Each item in the Diner is surrounded by a green aura as players position Qui-Gon in front of it; the green symbolizes that the item is “force-ready”, which means that players can use the force to float the item and shake it until coins – currency used for purchasing extras – pop out. After you’re done exploding soda cups and attacking Obi-Wan, it’s time to head through the first door and begin your Star Wars adventure.

Each level in Lego Star Wars is gorgeous, intricately detailed, and very befitting of the Star Wars universe. As each episode only sports five-six levels, each level is chosen for portraying some sort of important, action-packed event, so you’ll run through swamps (stopping only to marvel at your reflection in small pools), fly through space (while admiring all the bright explosions and swarming enemy vehicles), and fight through hordes of enemy droids to approach Darth Maul, Count Dooku, or even Darth Vader, and all in style. Though the environments are realistic, they’re full of lego objects and parts just waiting to be assembled by someone strong in the force, and a lot of these objects can be adjusted to enable players to reach secret locations and obtain extra goodies; in this regard, level layouts cleverly accommodate these bonuses without paying for it in loss of realism, as areas feature scorching hot lava pools, gentle patches of smoke, and beautiful overhead skies.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Even with the GameCube treading on its last legs and ‘Cube owners starved for new games worth buying, Nintendo’s uber-mascot, Mario, continues to show up everywhere, including in some EA games, most notably SSX On Tour and NBA Street Vol. 3. There’s also the upcoming Mario Strikers, but probably the most popular multiplayer Mario game is the seemingly never-ending Mario Party series and now we’re given another serving of it in Mario Party 7.

 

The Mario Party franchise has been around since the golden days of the N64, so if you haven’t heard about the games or have no clue what they’re about, you’ve done a fairly good job of avoiding Nintendo like the plague. The basic premise of the game is a bunch of minigames slapped together in the form of a board game. The objective of the game is to finish the game, which is ended after a set number of turns of your choosing, with the most stars. Stars can be earned in different ways, but the most obvious one is to land on a spot where a star is sitting. Getting to where the star is, however, is where all the adventure lies.

Those of you familiar with the series will feel very comfortable with MP7 since it’s relatively unchanged from the previous entry as the microphone is also bundled here. The biggest difference is that there are new minigames to tackle including new 8-player ones. The other difference is that the game takes place upon a cruise ship, which sets up the story. Mario has invited all of his friends to go on a cruise with him, including Wario and Waluigi. Bowser is angered at being left out and decides to crash the party. This, of course, explains why Bowser is on the board to give players such a hard time. As players rotate through their turns, a meter will slowly fill and when it does, prepare for something nasty from the big boy. He’ll steal some coins (and in some cases force you to buy something, which is 95% of the time totally useless) or take away a turn or move you back a few spots; the worst thing he can do is steal a star from you. Trust me when I say that hurts sometimes, especially when it knocks you into a tie with someone or creates a situation in which it’s impossible to recover. What he’ll do is random, so some luck is required when that meter fills.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The crazy cats at Konami have done it again. The same company responsible for the Dance Dance Revolution series has created a series of karaoke games. Karaoke Revolution Party is the first of the series to appear on the GameCube, and while it succeeds at delivering an in-home karaoke experience on the ‘Cube, it doesn’t quite measure up to the versions of the game on the PS2 or the Xbox.

The best thing about the game is its novelty. Who would have thought a few years ago that gamers would be plugging microphones into their consoles and singing along to tunes and actually enjoying themselves? Well apparently someone did, and the results are fantastic. Watching one of your good gaming buddies trying to sing along to Madonna’s Material Girl is about as unique an experience as you’re going to find in gaming today. This is one of the best party games out there, since it’s just fun to watch people, especially those who aren’t videogame veterans, sit down and enjoy playing a game together.

What’s even more astounding is that the game actually works. As you sing there is a sort of musical staff on the page and lines appear telling the player how high or low the notes are and when they should be sung. When it’s time to sing an arrow appears on the screen and indicates how high or low the player’s voice is in relation to the melody that the game is looking for. Players gain points for keeping their own vocal cords on pitch, and the longer they manage to stay on tune, the more points are earned. Male gamers with low voices need not be concerned since the game can also tell if the player is on pitch an octave below the normal melody. Amazingly enough, the game is pretty good at determining when gamers are on tune, although those with trained vocal cords and a bit of vibrato may have to tone down their vocal quality for the game to register their singing properly.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The Animaniacs have been off the air for several years now, but that didn’t stop Ignition and Warner Brothers from teaming up to bring Yakko, Wakko, and Dot to a new generation. Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt begins with the evil Cyril Coupe Deville stealing the coveted Edgar Awards (the Animaniacs equivalent of the Oscars) and holding them for ransom. Fortunately, he bungles the theft and crashes his blimp into the Warner Bros. tower, unleashing the Animaniac siblings. The game begins with Yakko, who must find his now-lost siblings and the coveted Edgar awards.

Ignition got full rights to use the Animaniacs universe so the game is full of little nods to the cartoon series. Many characters make appearances; besides Yakko, Wakko, and Dot the player also encounters Dr. Scratchandsniff, various incarnations of the nurse, as well as the infamous Pinky and Brain. The game takes place inside the Warner Bros. lot, and the levels are actually sets of various movies that are in production. There’s a classic Wild West film set, a fairy tale land set and others throughout the game that are full of Edgar Awards and other goodies for the player to discover.

The characters in the game are all modeled extremely well and feature an acceptable level of detail. The character animations are smooth, and look like they could have been taken from an episode of the cartoon. The various levels are colorful and contain several different types of enemies, each of which is appropriate for the type of film set that forms the level. The entire game is 3D and uses an engine heavy on cell-shading, which enhances the cartoon atmosphere of the game.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

When it comes to first-person shooter games, arguably few could call them innovative or original; considering the genre, the bulk of FPS titles have players running around a large map either looking for bad guys to shoot, or shooting said bad guys. You may do so on an alien planet, or while traveling through time, or when en route to kill Hitler, or while tracking down terrorists, but no matter the franchise it’s the same premise – run and gun. Shoot to kill. Nintendo and N-Space’s Geist, however, takes on a much more refreshing approach to the FPS genre and supplements the run and gun formula with a novel twist – possession. To mow down enemies, players must first possess a host, assuming control of the host’s faculties and – of course – his weaponry. Love it or hate it, it’s the first breathtaking modification that the genre has undergone in years, and while it’s implemented well, one leaves the game satisfied but a touch disappointed. Expect a sequel.

Geist’s presented plot is simple but soon becomes engaging enough to draw the player in and keep his attention throughout the rest of the game. Players are cast as John Raimi, a specialist who’s teamed up with a government team to infiltrate the headquarters of Volks Corporation, a scientific entity thought to have created a powerful biological or chemical weapon that could deal damage to countries around the world. Typical of government operatives, they stroll into Volks territory completely unaware of what horrible scheme Volks has prepared for every major nation on the globe, and are immediately swept up in the company’s new, otherworldly experiment. Gamers control Raimi and learn the very basics – medical kits restore health, this is how you shoot a gun, this is how you talk to people, et al – as they’re thrown into their first firefight; as the team nears the exit nearly every member is dead, and soon it’s just Raimi knocked to the ground. Volks himself, founder of his company, decides to conduct his ethereal experiment on Raimi to see if he’d make a fine Volks employee, but just as soon as Raimi’s soul is ripped from his body, he is “rescued” by another ghost, Gigi, a small girl who reminds Raimi of his real identity and encourages him to save his friend and escape. Numerous twists and turns abound, such that by the game’s end players have experienced an enjoyable, unusual FPS – something the market desperately needs.

As obvious from the above paragraph, there are really two distinct modes of play – you can float around as a ghost on a possessing binge, or you can grab a reliable body and start gunning. In between the two are strewn light puzzles to test your mental capacities, and bosses your mettle. That said, Geist’s gameplay still focuses the majority of its content on managing Raimi’s ghost capabilities, which are the game’s true highlights. Players start off learning the basics from Gigi, the local spirit mentor. She’ll instruct you on how to keep up your ghost vitality by sucking up plants, as well as how to float around, how to examine the immediate environment, and how to possess. Raimi can possess both living and inanimate objects, and whatever a gamer observes that is “possessable” gains a red sheen. As usual, though, there’s a catch: to grab a living host you’ve got to scare it to death, which means you’ve got to possess whatever objects are around the host and start wreaking spiritual havoc in its direct vicinity. This involves tossing plates, exploding paint cans, reflecting ghastly images, and so forth, which makes it great fun to observe the living’s reaction. To keep it interesting N-Space added animal possession, and it’s a treat to walk around barking at guards or informing a trainer you’re going to kill her. The same prank is never used twice, which keeps the player guessing and enriches the gameplay.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

Battalion Wars is a cross between an action and a strategy game with a style all its own. The game could easily try to be an action or a strategy game without actually succeeding at either, but instead it creates a whole new genre. The game delivers fun gameplay with lots of style and is definitely worth picking up for fans of military action or strategy games.

The premise of the game is a war between the Western Frontier and the Tundran Empire, which resembles the US and the Soviet Union, respectively, and must join forces to fight a new threat, the Xylvanians. The game puts the player into the role of a commander of the Western forces. The commander can issue orders to all the other friendly units in the game, but can also jump into the body of any friendlies on the map. This makes gameplay a balance between strategically commanding troops while also fighting the war in the role of a footsoldier, tank, bazooka trooper, and so on. 

On the surface Battalion Wars delivers on many levels. Visually, the game is impressive. The graphics have a cartoon-style feel to them which fits in well with the theme of the game. Explosions look fantastic and frequently fill the screen and the game never stutters from frame-rate issues.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

With Mario starring in seemingly every sport out there, it’s no wonder that he hasn’t had the time for a follow-up to Mario Sunshine. His latest foray into sports is in Mario Superstar Baseball from Namco. Much like Mario’s other sports titles, it’s easy to pick up and play, but unlike the previous Mario sports titles, it’s not a great game that will occupy hours of your time. It can be fun for a few hours, or when played against friends, but overall it’s underwhelming in many ways. 

Mario Superstar Baseball has a standard array of gameplay options. You can play a quick game against a friend, or you can take on three buddies in some minigames. These are simple games like homerun derby, and others that involve base running and pitching. They’re fun for a little while, but they’re hindered by the game’s poor controls, which will be discussed later. The meat of the gameplay is in the story mode, where you must defeat teams led by Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Wario, and others – recruit beaten players, and then take on Bowser.

Many people feel that baseball games have gotten too complex, or they feel the games take to long. Anyone who falls into that category will enjoy the simple gameplay mechanics and the short (usually three or five) innings of a full game. Obviously if you’re into stats and realism, this isn’t the game for you, but Mario Baseball makes no pretense of being a realistic baseball experience. The action is viewed from an elevated point of view behind the plate; much like 8-bit games of the olden days. Hitting is done via the A button, and all you’ve got to do is figure out if the pitch is inside or out of the line, move your batter and time your swing properly. Pitching is just as simple, with A throwing the ball, with control being done after the ball is released.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Companies love making money off some of their classic titles by releasing them in compilations. We’ve seen Namco’s numerous arcade classics and Capcom’s Mega Man Anniversary Collection. Sega has been banking on their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, and have done so twice already with Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Mega Collection Plus. Those two games covered the entire Genesis library, and now Sega has treated us to some of the more rare and obscure titles in Sonic Gems Collection.

Gems Collection offers up nine different titles from the Sonic franchise – Sonic CD, Sonic R, the first US release of Sonic the Fighters, as well as the six Game Gear Sonic games. It’s definitely quite a number of games, but unfortunately, some of them just aren’t worth playing.

Sonic CD is regarded by most fans as one of the best in the series. Originally released for the Sega CD and the PC, it contains the same solid speedy side-scrolling action as the classic games with the added twist of time travel. Each stage has a past and future version and things you do in the past version, such as breaking walls and platforms, will affect the stage layout of the future version. This simple mechanic essentially doubles the size of the levels and thus the game itself. It’s rather fun to just take your time and see what exactly you can fiddle with and how it changes the future version. Also, since this is one of the games in this collection that was originally made for the CD format, the audio tracks sound clearer and crisper than most of the others in the collection.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

In one of the world’s many silly coincidences, here is a videogame release to come out at the same time as a feature film with the exact same title. Our in-house teams of statisticians are bouncing of the walls trying to calculate the probability of such an occurrence.

All the fans of the 1970s movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory who were disappointed in their inability to accuse the 2005 Tim Burton adaptation for “ruining their childhood” should take solace in just how horrible this game is. I’m sorry, should I have saved that shocking reveal for the end of the review? Well here’s the thing, this game is so bad that I don’t even recommend that you read the rest of this review – much less consider spending any amount of your mom’s money on the actual game. Just like movies, there can be games that are so bad that they’re funny instead of just boring. This game is so bad that it goes past boring, past so-bad-it’s-good, past so-bad-it’s-funny, into a dark, depressing, and humid world where a game is so bad that it’s just bad.

For those of you who’re still with me: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, developed by High Voltage Studios (whose opening title logo is more interesting than any other part of their actual game), is a for-kids adaptation of the movie released last month. In it, you play Charlie Bucket who in a ridiculously surprising plot twist wins a ticket to take a tour in the elusive Willy Wonka’s candy factory. Most of the game is spent trying to save some of your annoying tour-mates from the deaths they endure in the movie.



Something this game can brag about is its sound design. All of the kiddies from the movie provide the voices for their game characters; Johnny Depp does not voice Mr. Wonka in the game, but the sound-alike is convincing enough to not make me wonder why on earth an Oscar-winner didn’t volunteer for such a game. The music is as inspired as it is in the movie, but the notable lack of Oompa Loompa songs is almost confusing.

Some of the level design in Charlie is pretty good; many of the dark and colorful set-pieces from the Burton film are transferred well.



Everything else.

All the parts that make this game a game aren’t good enough to be called gameplay aspects. Deductive reasoning dictates, therefore, that this game isn’t a game and thereby this review shouldn’t exist.

The bulk of the “game”play here is played out by running Charlie around various parts of the factory, trying to save all the brats who get their comeuppance while Willy Wonka and everyone else who isn’t orange continue the tour, paying you and your endeavors no mind. To save all the kids, you have to enlist the random and unmotivated assistance of the creepy little Oompa Loompas to do mindless tasks like jumping on bellows or welding the plumbing. That is, of course, if you can figure out what it is the game wants you to do. All of the little tasks you need to perform are preceded with a little dialog from Wonka that explain mostly the principle of what you need to do and not specifically what you need to do.

At one point I had to throw gobstoppers at trees and harvest the candy from inside, but all that was explained to me was that if you throw a gobstopper at a tree candy will come out. Nobody mentioned that the same pointless task had to be performed three times in order to continue. This was only 10 minutes into the game, and it only got worse and worse.

Throwing gobstoppers is about the only thing you can actually do in the game. Everything else has to be ordered upon the Loompas, who are given the same amount of AI cycles as the floor you walk on. You’re only given the ability to make orders like “work” and “stay”, so good luck getting anything of any value to happen.

What this game ultimately lacks is any feeling that you’re in the chocolate factory or that it’s a cool place to be. The game boils down to a heap of boring and pointless tasks that waste the magical factory as its scenery. This game would be better suited as a party game or as some educational minigames for the Macintosh. The game as it is now is just a waste.

That doesn’t matter, however, because you aren’t going to play this game and you aren’t reading this review.



It is rare for a game based on a movie to be worth any more than a rental, but it is even rarer that a movie game (or any game for that matter) be this bad. Charlie and the Chocolate factory is obviously meant for the kids, but I doubt anybody would have the patience for it. Don’t be sucked in for the bright and shiny – stay away.

Running around and getting stuck on things isn’t my kind of game.

Some pretty environments, but all are claustrophobic and the graphics suffer from jaggies.

A great score and better-than-average voiceovers. But come on! No Oompa Loompa songs?

Turning the game off was pretty fun, and some of the cutscenes were nice to watch.

I didn’t want to keep playing after my first drink break.

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This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Chuck Landry.

Leon from the Raccoon City PD is back. He’s in Spain working for the U.S. government, and his mission is to recover the President’s kidnapped daughter. Simple enough, right? Starting in a remote village, Leon will tumble down a path of mystery regarding the location of the daughter, the reason the villagers won’t stop throwing hatchets at him, and why he keeps running into some people from his past.

I don’t care if you don’t like Resident Evil games. If you like any action games, anything other than Barbie Super Shopper or the Mary Kate and Ashley games, then you need to play Resident Evil 4. It truly is a whole new gaming experience, and while it retains some familiar staples from the series, everything is updated to maintain and sometimes surpass today’s standards. For instance, while you’ll still be saving your game at typewriters, you will never need a single ink ribbon. But to get you ready for what kind of game you’re going to be getting yourself into, how’s this for an opening level:

I was dropped off outside of an old home by some Spanish policia to start my investigation. I walk inside to ask the resident if he has any information on the President’s daughter, and his response is to try to chop my arm off at the shoulder with an axe. Luckily (for me more than for him) I put him down with a couple of shots to the nose. My guides speed off in the van, wreck, and now there are three other angry villagers waiting for me outside. I pick them off from an upstairs window rather than face them. At the main village, I see one of my former travel companions burning on a stake, and am quickly noticed by a female villager. She alerts the rest of the town and tries to give me an extreme close-up of her shiny pitchfork. Angry villagers with hatchets, axes, pitchforks, and torches are running – not walking – at me from every direction. I hold my ground as long as I can, swinging in every direction and aiming for their heads.

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