James Pond 3: Operation Starfish
If Baby Mario was a sardineGenre: action - platform
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year: 1993
System: Genesis
Gameplay Score: 2
Gameplay Notes:
It plays a lot like those baby Mario sections in Yoshi's Island for the SNES only here you're not invincible. The gimmick is that you can run up slopes that can even go upside down. Other mechanics include hitting blocks like Mario and running super fast like Sonic. Controls are unbelievably slippery to the point of frustration and enemies move quickly and are very narrow so it's hard to bop them. Instead. Instead, the best bet is to pick up items like a rock and throw them at them. Most enemies take multiple hits so combat is a chore.
Level Design Score: 3
Level Design Notes:
The levels are interesting not just your standard platforming. The slope mechanic makes for some interesting paths. The game is extremely linear compared to its predecessors and there aren't mazes, thank goodness. The objective is simply to get to the end instead of having to collect everything before the exit opens.
Theme Score: 3
Theme Notes:
The cringe factor is lower in this game than in previous James Pond titles. It just plays like any other '90s mascot game.
Art Style Score: 4
Art Style Notes:
Really impressive animation and artwork. The busy backgrounds are gone. There's not much to dislike other than the dumb character models.
Audio Score: 2
Audio Notes:
Once again the music is not very good. Sounds are okay but again the soundtrack is extremely simple, repetitive and boring.
Overall Score: 50
Review ID: 990
No comments:
Post a Comment