Shrek is big, but stupid

One day some fat suited types sat around a boardroom table and said, "I really love this idea about the big, green, farting ogre. I reckon we’re onto something here." I expect there was some kind of golden handshake. They all left the room with dollar signs in their eyes, high on the prospect of major marketing tie-ins; lunch boxes, bed spreads, games, maybe even a TV show. This could be the next Toy Story, they promised themselves. Shrek was good. I liked Shrek. But the same cannot be said for the string of games it has spawned. This time … Continue reading Shrek is big, but stupid

Robotech: Battlecry is Anime Action

Revival is a word becoming more and more common in the game industry. TV series that have gotten canceled are continually seeing their stories continuing through the art form that is video gaming. Such is the case with Dark Angel, the Fox sci-fi series that got the hook unfairly some months back. It’s getting a game continuation of its storyline. A similar case has been speculated to happen with Farscape, another sci-fi series that suffered the same fate as Dark Angel. There is currently one Farscape game on the market, though many people hope there will be a story-based sequel … Continue reading Robotech: Battlecry is Anime Action

Dinotopia is No Utopia

As its name suggests, Dinotopia is a dinosaur romp. In my opinion, there are too many dinosaur games and not enough of them are any good. Before your heart swells with expectation, Dinotopia is by no means the saviour of the dinosaur theme. Nor will it lead to the hasty demise of the dinosaur genre, and I can’t quite decide if this is a good or a bad thing. Dinotopia is teamed-up with what has been heralded as an exciting, new fantasy series of the same name, showing on the Hallmark channel. The fact that there is such a thing … Continue reading Dinotopia is No Utopia

Shrek is Blech

Well, perhaps not totally blech, but you probably won’t enjoy this title very much. Shameless licensing of a game on the back of a movie? Well, there is nothing wrong with that. Such shamelessness brought us the likes of Goldeneye (nuff said). Okay, so the ingredients are summer a blockbuster, comedy, family entertainment, fairy tale fantasy, lovability, highly marketable characters, and state of the art computer animation. Phew, put those together and you could have yourself the makings of a cute 2D platform adventure. Or not! The folks at TDK opted for Shrek the ‘fighting adventure.’ Hmm, I noticed the … Continue reading Shrek is Blech