Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Ron Burke

Activision has their hands full with Spider-Man 3, one of the most anticipated movies of this year, but that doesn’t mean that they have forgotten about one of the other big-name movies – Shrek the Third.  Without ruining the story, Shrek the Third is the continued story of Far Far Away. The kingdom needs an heir to the throne and the most promising candidate is Fiona’s cousin Artie.  Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots set off to find Artie and bring him back to the kingdom.  With Shrek and the boys away from the kingdom of Far Far Away, Prince Charming has seized the opportunity to try to retake the throne by force.  It is here that your story begins. 

In addition to the Nintendo DS version of Shrek the Third, I also sat down with the GBA version of the game.  Since the NPD numbers state that the DS is selling over 30,000 units every week, I can’t imagine there is anyone out there with a DS, but here we are just the same. 

Unlike the Nintendo DS, the GBA just can’t handle 3D environments well, so Vicarious Visions opted for a 2D sprite based sidescroller for the GBA version.  The results are a mixed bag at best.  The character models look pretty good with each character getting some extra animation attention.  Puss saunters when he walks with an air of haughtiness, Shrek swings his lumbering arms from side to side, and Donkey plods along.  The idle animations are even better with Donkey making a popping sound with his mouth, Puss tapping his foot and stretching out, and Shrek scratching his butt as usual.

The game has a good bit of vertical height for a GBA platformer with many puzzles requiring the characters to split up and activate switches in upper and lower portions of the area.  Pressing up or down on the D-Pad can mean the difference between confusion and success as sometimes things are just outside of the normal field of view.

The GBA is a six year old platform, and it the limits are beginning to show.  While the active characters on the screen are (mostly) well detailed, the background textures look fairly weak.  The sand in the early levels resembles stirred yogurt with fruit on the bottom with its varying shades of pink, and latter jungle levels not doing much better.  The water is one of the worst offenders looking more like a pulsing Tie-dyed shirt with a repeating pattern than water.

Shrek the Third is by no means a visual horror – in fact it is probably pretty solid when compared to other GBA titles, but the platform has been outgrown, and ports like this aren’t helping much.

In a similar way that the graphics are platform-limited, the sound is fairly platform limited by the hardware in the GameBoy Advance.  As a result the music just loops and loops forever.  It is akin to listening to a ringtone on your phone for an extended period of time – even if you like the ring tone, the short loop time will eventually begin to grate on your nerves.  There is an option to turn it off, and I imagine most people will find themselves using it.

On the other hand, the sound effects for Shrek the Third are pretty spot-on.  Whether you are bouncing on a mushroom, swinging your sword, or popping your mouth as Donkey, the sound effects are solid.  

There are few voices in the game, and when there are voices they are pretty low quality, but once again we are beating the dead horse of old hardware.  For what they are, they are decent enough.

As I stated in the review for the Nintendo DS version of Shrek the Third, simple controls are vital to any game aimed at kids.  As such, Vicarious Visions has worked hard to keep this game simple.  You’ll use the four directions on the D-Pad to direct your characters, with A serving as the jump button, and B used as an action button for things like attack.  Holding up on the D-Pad allows you to look upwards, and holding down allows you to look down.  It allows you a bit of latitude in your view, allowing you to catch those hidden items.  It is simple and it works – hard to ask for more than that, except for one thing – jumping.

The jumping in the game is fairly latent.  When you jump it seems like the characters slowly leap into action, semi-hovering as they move.  I’m not sure if this is a design choice to make the jumping puzzles easier or not, but it can making some of the platforming elements a bit more difficult than they should be.

There are four scenarios to play, each with six levels to complete to move on.  At the end of the first set of levels you’ll meet up with Merlin.  It is at this point that you are told that you need to have captured six fairies to allow Merlin to teleport you back to Far Far Away.  You may find that you need to backtrack to get those fairies to advance.  It is also here that you can purchase the player upgrades. 

The spells available in the game are “Make a Donkey Glide”, “Enchant a Shield”, and the “Make an Ogre Charge”.  To purchase these spells you’ll need some specific hidden items found within the levels such as a feather, bag of gold, a butterfly, and a crystal formation for the Donkey Glide.  Once you have the items, Merlin will teach you the spell you desire.

Once you make your spell purchases, you can elect to have Merlin teleport you back to Far Far Away.  Unfortunately Merlin isn’t what he used to be, so he overshoots his goal and you end up Far Far Away from Home. 

Like the DS versions, each character has a specific power that they can use to advance the team.  Shrek can butt-slam the ground which can break objects, and he is the only one that can walk through unbearable stench, Artie can climb vines and use his shield as a projectile, Puss is the master of the sword and can climb up walls, and Donkey can kick down obstacles.  Using these skills is the key to finishing the individual levels, with more combined efforts being necessary to complete the latter ones.  Should you fail in any way though, you don’t have to worry – there is no losing, only restarting the level.

As you work through the platformer levels you’ll eventually run into some boss battles.  An example might be when you first encounter Captain Hook – you’ll have to fight back his henchmen to free your friends from their cage.  Captain Hook isn’t the only cameo though – kids will get to enjoy cameos from other Dreamworks titles such as Stella the Skunk and Vern the Turtle from Over the Hedge.

The gameplay is simple and puzzle-oriented with a light dash of combat. Most of the puzzles involve a lever that must be hit or a  weight scale that needs to be pressed to proceed.  Sometimes these presses require more than one character, but they all move platforms or open doors that will allow you to proceed.

The platforming elements aren’t quite as forgiving as the DS version, but ultimately the risk is low as you simply restart the level if you fail.  The levels are relatively short, but finding the fairies and spell components will have you revisiting levels long after you’ve beaten the game. 

This version of Shrek the Third is particularly short.  An adult can beat the game in a single afternoon, and more likely a week for a kid due to some of the more difficult platformer elements.  If you are still one of the last holdouts that refuses to move on to the Nintendo DS, this could be a good choice for a younger kid.  I’d recommend the DS version of this version though, having played both. Even on an aging platform like the GameBoy Advance, there is a decent movie tie-in – just be aware of the short duration ahead of time.

Gaming Trend Score

73

1. Graphics: 65
2. Audio: 75
3. Controls: 80
4. Gameplay: 75
5. Value/Replay: 65
6. OVERALL:73