Vigilante 8
Game by Vatical (developed by Vicarious Visions)
Review by Primeval
primeval1@ignmail.com
Released: 1999
Save: Battery
Size: 8 Megabits
Works with: Color Only
 
Opening Snide Remarks: Console-to-GameBoy ports are a mixed bag. Some are
excellent (Grand Theft Auto), some are decent (Turok 2), and some are crap
(Ready 2 Rumble). So which category does Vigilante 8 fall into? That's right,
the all-to-common crap category.

Gameplay Description: You've got to hand it to Vicarious Visions - they've
got balls. They've taken a very 3D game and put it into a 2D top-down game
on the GameBoy...too bad the outcome sucks. Like the PlayStation version
(which I hated despite the positive reviews it got), you roam around in
different levels in your car, that's been jacked up with some wicked weapons,
killing all the other cars.

Problem is, it doesn't work in 2D. It's like porting Super Mario 64 to the
GB Color. It's difficult to control you car (you can't go 5 seconds without
getting caught on the scenery) and hard enough to even target other cars. To
make things even worse, there's only 5 levels, and you can only carry 3
weapons at a time. The Rumble Pak in the game is used to a minimum, as it
only rumbles when you get hit and when your car lands after jumping over
something.

The game's OK if you play in 5 minute spurts, but any more will bore you out
of your head.

Liked: Turning it off
Hated: Boring gameplay, only 5 levels
 
Graphics Description: The graphics aren't too shabby. The pictures of the
characters on the car select screen look nice (if not blurry), and the
stages all look very good. The game suffers what I've come to call "Grand
Theft Auto Syndrome", in which small projectiles like bullets and small
missiles are impossible to see. Metal Gear Solid had this problem too, and
now you can add Vigilante 8 to that list.

Liked: Levels looks pretty good
Hated: Can't see small missiles
 
Sound/Music Description: Now here's what I just don't understand at all. Why
is it that all the crappy games have great sound, but all the great games
have crappy sound? Bionic Commando and Grand Theft Auto are great games, but
have crappy sound (especially that horrid speech in BC). Army Men is a
terrible game, but has great speech. Now we have V8. The gameplay sucks, but
the speech and sound effects are great. All the weapons sound terrific (the
sound effects are taken directly from the PSX version). The music isn't much.
There's only one song, the title screen song (which is also straight from
the PSX version), but it sounds great. Sadly, nothing plays during the actual
game, making it that much more boring.

Liked: Sound FX are great
Hated: One song, nothing plays during gameplay
 
Play Control/Game Design: As in Grand Theft Auto, you can only point in 16
directions. The difference? V8's levels have so many obsticals that you're
always getting caught on them (GTA didn't have this problem). To add insult
to injury, backing up requires you to press Down and A. They should have
titled this game "Back That Ass Up", because that's 99% of the game. As for
Game Design, the levels are modeled after their PSX counterparts. It wasn't
bad on PSX, but then again, it was easier to avoid obsticles in that version.
Oh, and remember how in the PlayStation version, you could destroy just about
everything? Not here. Nope. They could have at least made an effort to make
some original level designs.

Liked: Turning off the GameBoy
Hated: Wasting my battery life on this turd of a game
 
Improve: The boring gameplay and frustrating controls

RIYL: You've got problems if you like this game.
 
Final Words: Vigilante 8 could have been great. But it got delayed, and
suffered the fate of so many other console-to-GameBoy ports. It's boring and
frustrating. If you need to kill some time, it's fun, but only if the time
you're killing is less than 5 minutes. This game will put you to sleep. If
you want a top-down action game, get Grand Theft Auto. Vigilante 8 isn't
exactly terrble, but...wait a minute, yes it is!
 
Score
GamePlay: *
Graphics: ****
Sound/Music: *****
PlayControl/GameDesign: *
Personal Opinion: *
Total: 12 out of 25 (48%)

Final Score: 15%
 
Currently Known Codes: Nothing that'll make the game any better.