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»Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
"Berenstain, not Beer-Stein..."
When you review a game that is obviously meant for a younger audience you have to change your mindset a little. You can't expect the game to have the same difficulty level as Bayou Billy, you have to go into it looking for a "fun" little outing into whichever world is being represented in the particular game. However, just because you can let the difficulty expectation slide a bit doesn't mean that everything else gets the curve too...Oh no. Just because a game is marketed towards a younger audience doesn't mean it has to be a rush job (which it seems is almost always the case with such titles). As long as parents keep buying games based on boxart, these type of games will keep on existing, its such a shame.
Berenstain Bears and Atomic Betty are two of the same game, it is almost as if this is a lesson in what TO DO and what NOT TO DO with making a video game. Berenstain is the version marketed towards 4 year olds who can't purchase a game on their own (let alone play with a GBA for five minutes without breaking it) and therefore are unable to discern a good game from a bad. While Atomic Betty on the other hand is almost the exact same game + quality control and play testing. It is amazing how much those last few steps can change a game for the better. I'll get to the review of Atomic Betty later, for now lets focus on the Bears...
This game (and Atomic Betty) is an action/puzzler type design, where the player controls three separate people, each one with their own unique ability that will help you inch closer to the end of the level. Brother bear has the uncanny ability to push boxes, while sister bear is able to leap long distances, and the even more resourceful cousin Fred has a sort of grappling hook device to reach platforms. You control each bear one at a time, moving them forward and using their ability to get to previously unreachable areas and flip switches/push buttons to activate elevators or let down bridges. There are enemies in the way too, but most of the time you just whack them once with your stick or whatever weapon you have to dismantle them...No big deal. You have a health bar which is referred to as a "courage meter" and when this is depleted your bear gets upset and you essentially lose a life. But what would a sidescrolling platformer be without some form of massive item collection for extra lives? This game has that too. Either collect 100 pieces of candy or 10 jars of honey to score yourself an extra life, weeee!
To further drop the difficulty to a preschool level there is basically no puzzle solving to be had in this puzzle/action title. Each place that a specific bear power is needed is labeled with exactly which bear you need to get past it, so your hand is held the entire way through...But since this game is geared towards children I won't knock any points off for that. However, the jumping and hit detection doesn't feel quite right, its very stiff and unforgiving. Perhaps this wouldn't be such a problem if the enemies were phased a bit more by your attacks, but as it is they just keep barreling towards you. Also, using the jumping platforms can be a real pain at times. So, lower the difficulty by taking the "puzzle" out of the puzzles, yet crank it up again with wonky controls.
Shall I describe the graphics? I'd rather not make another comparison to Atomic Betty, but that game looks great while this game is slightly a cut above GBC. Seriously, the backgrounds and platforms don't mesh well at all with each other. Trees in the background look like squiggly spires of ONE SHADE OF BROWN...WOW! Then to top it all off, some of the graphics don’t even seem to make sense, I realize this is the fantasy world of the Berenstain Bears, but why does the tree have windows in its leaves yet no doors or anything anywhere else? Why are there boulders sticking out of the tree branches? Because this is the world of the Berenstains! Honestly it would have been better if they just represented the levels as traditional forests without the fantasy parts. For the first few levels I kinda felt like I was walking through Salvador Dali's mind, I was expecting a few melting clocks as well. To make things worse, the actual character graphics don't mix well with the other graphics either. The bears and the enemies have a bit more detail in them than the other graphics in the game and it just doesn't mix. Also the three main bear characters are simply the same sprites just with different colored clothes and a bow on the girl's head, LAZY!
Throughout the game the music was uninspired and uninteresting. I don't think I found one track that would get stuck in your head (in a good way). Its just all forgettable music that you can tell nobody really cared about because this is a children's game and children don't really care about the music in their video games. The sound effects are also super generic, with a boing here and a bling there, it really drives home the "for kids" theme. Not a lot to rant on here, generic music and sounds for a rushed kiddie game, no surprise.
I can't really imagine this game having any replay value. If you're within the targeted age group for this game you probably won't finish it and if you did finish it you'd just lose it anyway afterwards. And if for some reason you are older than the targeted age group and you bought this game, you're sure to return it after you snap out of your hangover and realize the game isn't Beer-Stein bears. The game also features the ever so hated password save feature, but it isn’t as bad as some other games. The passwords in this game consist of a string of 4 images, which you shouldn’t have a hard time remembering...Bug, Knight, Bug, Squirrel.
It probably sounds like I’m being harsh on this game, and I am, however it isn't because this is a children's game. The reason I’m so harsh is because this is so obviously a rush job of a game. The fact that this game is basically the same as Atomic Betty, yet at the same time there is such a noticeable difference in quality just yells "RUSH JOB" or "WE REALLY DIDN'T CARE!" Why should I cut this game any slack for its total lack of luster? If you were going to buy your kid this game, why not buy them Atomic Betty instead, it may be a bit harder, but it still seems kind of kid friendly.
Article by: mrtama
Posted on: Nov. 30th, 2005 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| The concept is ok...Only there is no puzzle solving due to them giving you the answers. Stiff controls add to the problems. |
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Graphics |
| Wow, borderline GBC graphics mixed with semi well detailed sprites and lazy re-uses of of the bear characters. |
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Sound |
| Mediocre music and super happy fun generic cartoonish noises! |
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Replay Value |
| Seriously, no matter what age you are, you probably won't finish or replay this... |
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