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Disney
Triple Feature
Our regular children's reviewer, Sean Davis (aka Crayoneater) had to take a short sabbatical, so in his stead we were able to convince my eleven-year-old son, Jacob, to give dad a hand working his way through the Wonderful World of Disney. If any of you "expert" gamers out there think you're hot stuff, I guarantee that a little playing time shared with an eleven-year-old will knock your ego down a peg or two.
We quickly discovered that Goin' Quackers was not an adventure game, but a pure old-fashioned console-style platformer. If Goin' Quackers starred anyone but Donald Duck--whom Jacob and I agreed many older gamers would be embarrassed to be seen playing and therefore wouldn't even give this game a glance--it would be considered an instant classic. For Ubi Soft has assimilated the best of every platform game ever developed and combined them into Goin' Quackers. Donald's sweetheart, Daisy, has been kidnaped (or is that ducknapped?) by the evil Merlock, and now Donald has to travel through four action-packed 3D cartoon environments and 20 levels to rescue his feathered female friend. Gyro's Gamma-Tubal-Teleport lets Donald access the various worlds where he must gather the pieces of the Boss Warp Pad and reassemble them so that Gyro can teleport Donald to the world's summit for a final showdown. Bonus levels can be entered by collecting Huey, Dewey, and Louie's misplaced toys. A word to the wise: most platform games don't allow for backtracking, but Goin' Quackers does; use this feature to your advantage in situations where a time limit is in effect by exploring an area first before you activate the time limit icon. Goin' Quackers can be played using either the keyboard or a gamepad. We used our gamepad and were always in full control as Donald ran, jumped, and dodged his way to victory. Without a doubt, though, the most humorous and fun scenes are Donald's hot-tempered Quack Attacks. Donald can get into certain "moods." A milkshake serves as a power-up that puts Donald into a Hyper-mood that makes him super fast and strong for a short time. But taking a hit from an enemy will force him into either a Berserk or Angry mood and, brother, you don't want to mess with Donald when he is in this state of mind (and besides, you will probably be too busy laughing)! I know I was secretly worrying about Donald's blood pressure shooting off the charts. While there is nothing inventive in Goin' Quackers, it is as well-done as any Sonic the Hedgehog or Crash Bandicoot game. The most memorable level is easily a homage to the famous Indiana Jones chased by the boulder scenario, only this time around Donald is running from a crazed truck driver, and if he is not nimble enough, well, it is pressed duck for dinner as Donald slides down your monitor screen. The graphics are beautiful and the voices live up to your cartoon memories. It is perfect entertainment for youngsters and younger players who have not yet been jaded by playing hundreds of similar games. Final Grade: A
Mickey Saves the Day is a 3D adventure for youngsters ages 4 to 8. While Jacob and I were both a few years over the age requirement, we still managed to enjoy our day out with Mickey. Big Bad Pete has stolen the town treasury and kidnaped the mayor, and now it is up to Mickey and Minnie to save the day. There is an option to play as either Mickey or Minnie, and many of your Disney friends--Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto--are on hand to help. Your mouse is used to navigate the characters, and there is an option to play an Easy or Not So Easy Game. There are some traditional adventure elements. If you elect to play as Mickey, then Minnie is also missing, and you must collect and use inventory items as you attempt to discover her whereabouts somewhere in the town's 25 locations. Successfully collecting specific items will allow Ludwig Von Drake to build a flying machine to rescue the kidnaped party. The majority of the game, though, focuses on five different activities. Linking Logs is a maze game that has you attempting to navigate your way across a toothpick factory's floor. Traffic Jam is similar to Frogger in that you must cross a gridlocked freeway. Songbirds is an enjoyable activity in which you must line up birds on telephone wires and then have them chirp musical tunes. Trash Building is a variation of the classic Concentration as you remove trash from the town park, and Sandwich Hero is a variation of Tapper as Mickey or Minnie catch the ingredients needed to build a hero sandwich. Made for young attention spans, Mickey Saves the Day is an enjoyable diversion that encourages teamwork and offers subtle encouragement as it makes learning painless. Splendid graphics, wonderful sound effects, and instantly recognizable voices all combine to present a solid, entertaining product. Final Grade: B
Reviewed previously by those stalwarts of stupidity--Twitch and Spaz--102 Dalmations is an action/adventure game for ages 8 and up. The player can at any time switch between playing as either Oddball or Domino as they attempt to rescue their petnapped brothers and sisters from the evil clutches of Cruella De Vil. (Has anyone else noticed this theme of kidnaping that runs through these three games? Mmm ... Disney?) The puppies' rescue attempts are constantly thwarted by a robotic army of, thankfully, defective toys. The puppies can bark, sniff, dig, and dog-paddle their way to a final showdown with Cruella. A few mini-games provide a diversion from the search, but most players will want to stay on course, as the mini-games aren't necessary to complete the game. The excellent 3D graphics are an animated tour of London as you journey through Regents Park, Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, and the Royal Museum. The PC graphics are indistinguishable from the Dreamcast version, which is a good thing. Puzzles are not inventory-based, but depend more on exploration and observation. There are times when it may be difficult to complete a level, but the difficulty usually arises more from a puzzle solution that was overlooked rather than an inability to complete a tricky jump as is often the case in these type of games. Each level must be meticulously explored, enemies must be lured into traps, and the environment must be manipulated to gain entrance to hidden levels and out-of-reach areas. There are even the now-standard turn-a-switch and push-a-box puzzles. 102 Dalmations comes highly recommended for youngsters of all ages. While it is not pure adventure, it is a nice mix of nonviolent action and simplified puzzle solving. Now if only Jacob will show me what he did to beat the darn game ... Final Grade: A System Requirements for All Three Games: |
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