Alice in Wonder Land Game by American McGee.. I mean.. Nintendo Reviewed by The Avardancer (Philip Wesley) Size: 32 megabits Save: batteries Released: 2000 Works with: Game Boy Color ONLY! **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: Another game I got to play at E3. What I remember the most about it is the "tech demo" graphics. It employs a lot of graphic bells and whistles. I decided to go ahead and buy it; just to see if the game was any good. It seemed somewhat niftyeous at E3; and I like reviewing games. What did I think of this game? Follow the White Rabbit to find out. **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: This is less of a platform game; and more of an "genre" game. A genre game is my phrase for games that attempt to implement various styles of play at once. Although the good majority of the gameplay is side scrolling "Get from point A to point B" style play. Some levels have find the key gameplay, and you jump on enemies heads to beat back those evil hordes. This is done in fairly well-designed levels for the first parts of the game. Typical and uninnovative; but done fairly well for those most part. UNTIL cross a river of tears in a bottle to get to the main part of Wonderland. That's the problem with this game. The first few levels are amazingly good; but when land in Wonderland Forest, the gameplay drops out. The main view becomes a top-down Zelda/Crystalis view and you run around talking to various Wonderland inhabitants and finding items for them. Your view becomes side-scrolling again as you move from place to place in the forest to collect four medals and enter the Queens area to go home. I consider this part trite (boring), and same-y (redundant). That's a bit sad; because the levels leading up to that part are great. The levels before are faster paced and full of promise; but the game suddenly dips into a tailspin and doesn't recover. It seems like Digital Eclipse lost focus on the game and didn't care anymore. However, the first few levels are quite nice, and a select few after you get to the Forest are unique. The level that stands out in particular is the level where you control a lizard and carry a ladder. The idea is to use that ladder to scale the building, and it's fun. The game also has a useless hide and seek game. The idea stunk in Tarzan and is equally smelly in this game. The early levels in the game contain a few auto-scrolling levels that are lots of fun. The game also features a fabulously lousy "Art Gallery". I suppose it would be a nice thing to print out ugly Disney black and white pictures; but the point of that, yet escapes me. Simply put, the game starts out pretty awesome, and then quickly goes the way of the bad. The graphics drop out, the play control dips out, the game just gets... dull. Liked: The first few levels are fun, some minor niceness near the end of the game. Hated: However, somebody killed something, that's clear at any rate. Or if you will... The gameplay trickled through my hands like water through a sieve. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: The first few levels and some assorted cut-scenes in the later part of the game are very nice looking. Visual effects like water reflections, mirror reflections, Alice's shadow, Alice's animation, and the bright colors make it a fun game visually.. at first. When you get past the first few levels and end up in Wonderland Forest.. the gameplay and the graphics go bad. Really, really, REALLY fast. You go from smooth animated enemies to two and three colored enemy sprites, no reflections, no parrallax scrolling, and everything bleeds together in a terrible fashion. It quickly degrades from an idealistic oil painting to a view somewhat like a bug, squished against the cement of the sidewalk. Curious and curiouser. Somethings bug me about the game; the horrible sprites for the Mad Hatter, and the March Hare, the horrible sprite for the Red Queen, and the Chesire Cat. But what bugs me is the tentacle monsters in the last really good level before Wonderland Forest. Why are there tentacle monsters in the water of Wonderland? I mean, seriously.. I can not help but think something bad when the bottle Alice is in is pulled under by a tentacle monster. Thoughts of bad anime.. umm... stuff come quickly to my mind. The rabbit and Alice have the best looking sprites. Sadly, the graphics near the end flat out stink. One example is the before mentioned "Ladder Lizard Level". The lizard has NO climbing animation, his sprite just moves up the ladder in a tacky fashion. Yuck. Liked: At first you will be like a Child of the pure unclouded brow and dreaming eyes of wonder... Hated: Then you wake up. Above all else. Keep your Temper! **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: Some adaptions of music from the movie is in here and it's not shabbily done. BUT the music gets pretty freaking irritateing, really quick. The sound effects little help the situation. In other words, volume down. Liked: Some decent adoptions of movie music. Hated: Annoying. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: One thing was certain: that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it - it was the black kitten's fault entirely. And that black kitten is Digital Eclipse. Somewhere in the life of this game, it must have switched teams; because it plays really nicely at first than collapses into a bad game. The hit detection and graphic parameters are ill placed. I shouldn't be able to put Alice into some areas of the screen; but I can. In some areas, the enemies can hurt you without touching you or hitting you; it looks like a miss but it hit you. The game starts with some great promise; but quickly flops down. Feed the person who thought up the Wonderland Forest area to the Jabberwocky. Liked: It starts out quality... Hated: But it doesn't stay quality. **************************************************************************** Improve: You know the quality of those first levels? Try and keep that level of quality next time. Ditch the stupid hide and seek game, and the Art Gallery is a tad.. umm.. well.. you know.. RIYL: Platform games, Alice in Wonderland. **************************************************************************** Final Words: Here's my opinion.. in an understandable format.. with other staff members! Adrock: Unfortunately, no one can tell what your opinion is. You have to show it visually. Philip: How? Adrock: Hold out your hands. In Philip's right hand, Adrock drops a red pill. Adrock: This is your Final Words. After this, there is no re-editing. In his left, a blue pill. Adrock: You take the blue pill and the game ends. You turn off your Game Boy, switch cartridges, and you play whatever you want to play. The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses. Adrock: You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Philip feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the moisture growing in his palms. Adrock: Remember that all I am asking for is the truth. Nothing more. Philip opens his mouth and swallows the blue pill. Adrock's smile fades. Adrock: Just not really worth it, huh? Philip: Yeah, it wasn't the One. Philip turns to his right and smiles at Trinity Akemi. Philip: So, dinner and a movie? I'm all done over here. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: *** Graphics: *** Sound/Music: ** Play Control/Game Design: * Personal Opinion: * Total: 10 out of 25 Final Score: 40% **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: Nope.