Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"Regardless of how cute of a Super Mario clone this truly is, it gets a lower grade than I'd normally give it, because it is so very much not like the video game version, which, admittedly, is far superior."

---from the review

-----------------

You May Also Wish To Buy: Shrek 2 Official Strategy Guide (Covers Both Versions!)

-----------------

Sidebar :

-----------------

Video Game/Movie Spoiler Alert! If you're the sort who likes big surprises in a film, believe me: see the film first. This video game reveals at least one riotous visual gag seen in the film, that you may want to leave for the actual film. However, it's even more funny here, since you not only see it, but you get to participate in it, as part of the story. I just felt people who disagree should get fair warning of this small detail. 

-----------------

Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

------------------

Shrek 2

Click picture to order this game (PC/windows version)

A Techtite Review

I know what you're thinking...at least I think I do, because I thought it, too. You look at the demo version of Shrek 2 on any game store's PS-2, X-Box or Game Cube, and you think, "cute game; I'll get it for my PC, and push the graphics to the max, on my superior graphics card!" Good idea. Trouble is, the PC version is nothing like the video game version at all. Is it still a good game, though? Well, that's what this review is here to answer for you.

Allow me to begin this review with the mildest of sarcasm: if this game's design team was trying so hard to cause a schism between this Shrek 2 and the video game system version, why did they make this game look so much like every single "Super Mario Clone" anyone's ever played? Not that the game's characters don't poke fun at that fact, for some well-delivered humor. The entire game begins with Donkey all excited. There's lots of stuff, all over the place! Coins floating in the air, magic candy bars that glow, and magic potions to try out. It makes it all the more funny, when the voice actor's impersonation of Eddie Murphy is perfectly delivered. Why, asks Donkey; why does this stuff float in the air like that? Why is it here at all? Just as donkey says; it doesn't matter. Just go collect them, okay?

The good news is that this is a next-generation Super Mario Clone. What I mean by that is: every collected item has a purpose, not just idle numbers on a score page. The coins you collect (complete with Donkey's face on them!) allow you to buy various magic potions: the ability to turn all nearby enemies into frogs, the ability to make all nearby enemies fall in love with you, the ability to be invisible for a short time, and the ability to scare enemies with your stench, among many others. Don't be stingy when buying these potions, on a frequent basis. There's no use for the coins otherwise, and you can always keep the potions you don't use for later, so don't be stingy. Buy a whole box of magic potions and use them frequently!

The controls are very intuitive. One mouse button is for a single or double jump; the other for fighting. Here's the best news so far: you are not only playing as Shrek. On various levels, you get to play as Donkey, and the film's new character, Puss in Boots. Each character has unique abilities: Boots can climb pipes, Shrek can grab things (i.e.; the only of the trio with opposable thumbs!), and Donkey can use his special kicking abilities. Control is pretty much the same for all characters.

There are also secrets, in the form of wanted posters. This is where this review's comparisons between this and the video game version turns a bit sour. See; in the video game version, you collect snapshots. Collecting enough snapshots gives you no less than six (yes, six) bonuses, including 5 mini-games to play at any time, and a screenshot gallery from the film, if you collect every snapshot possible. Comparatively: getting 4 posters in the PC version of this game, gets you a bonus level to collect as many coins as you can in a few seconds. Get 4 more posters and you get...the same thing. In fact, it's the exact same bonus level. Collect 12 posters and you get...nothing. Sure, the posters are worth a chuckle when their close-up appears on screen --complete with the "crime" the fairy tale character allegedly did-- yet this is a mere trifle compared to the video game version's bonuses.

Regardless of how cute of a Super Mario clone this truly is, it gets a lower grade than I'd normally give it, because it is so very much not like the video game version, which, admittedly, is far superior. In an age where every game system has ports for 4 controllers, video gamers get to work co-operatively in teams of four; if you lack 1 to 3 players, the computer AI picks up the slack. This team-based game is in the end far more ingenious than the PC game's single-gamer approach.

Not that the PC version doesn't have its moments. The way the apparent 2-D storybook prologue is interrupted by Donkey himself is a cute touch. This is one of many amusing moments of the game, in fact, making this a very funny game, and overall, a rather fun one as well. Isn't that all that matters?

Not exactly. For one thing: this is a Mario clone intended for kids. As such; it's very, very easy. Older kids will be done with it in one night, and for the price, that's a pretty steep value curve. There's also the lack of extras, compared to the video game version. I can see how PCs would not have the capacity for four players at once on one PC, though to strip the PC version of mini-missions and other rewards is going too far. I liked this game, though in the end, it could've been much better, if just because it could've offered at least what the video game version has. That said, this is a good game for the kids, though only if they don't have a video game system. If you're reading this, they probably already do.

---Techtite