Futurama – PS2 – Review

When
Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s show Futurama hit the airwaves, it immediately
gained a cult following with its unique blend of sci-fi kitsch and snappy
dialogue.  However, the show failed to achieve mainstream success and was
cancelled, much to the dismay of the droves of loyal Futurama fans.  Well, it
seems as though they could be getting their second chance with the Futurama gang
as Futurama is hitting the PS2.  While the gameplay may leave something to be
desired, much of the talent from the TV show, be it voice, writing or otherwise,
has ported over to work on the game, giving the game all the wit, humor and feel
of the fantastic TV show.  Futurama fans rejoice; your game is here and it’s not
half bad.                   

The
plot of Futurama plays out like an episode of the TV show.  Mom has taken over
the Planet Express from Dr. Farnsworth, and now rules the Earth with her army of
battle bot’s.  You play as Fry, Bender, Leela and Dr. Zoidberg (at different
times) and attempt to end the threat of Mom, her robots, and her Old-Fashioned
Robot Oil empire.

The
in-game dialogue and cutscenes were written by Matt Groening and the folks
behind the TV show, so fans can expect the half-hour of cutscenes to play out
with all the feel and snappiness of the show.  Favorite line: Dr. Farnsworth –
“Okay, okay, in hindsight, I guess it wasn’t such a good idea to sell the Planet
Express.  It must be my hind cataracts.”

The
gameplay is decent, but not great.  The game is a simple platformer, involving
lots of jumping puzzles.  These jumping puzzles can be very frustrating at
times, given that the collision detection isn’t quite where it should be.  It
kind of reminds me of old-school Nintendo games like Ninja Gaiden, where I’d get
to a certain jump and die consistently at that part every single time.  This
isn’t such a problem in the Fry levels at the beginning, but it gets extremely
annoying in the Bender and Leela levels later on.  There are a few vehicle
levels which are fun and relatively easy, like when Fry pilots the Chicken
Walker or the Dr. Zoidberg sections.  Although the game can be extremely cheap
and frustrating, it is quite short, clocking in at well under ten hours.

The
graphics are a hit and miss.  The simplistic cel-shaded look goes well with the
game and does a great job of mirroring the show on which it’s based on.  The
characters look very true to their onscreen counterparts, although some (like
Bender and Dr. Farnsworth) better than others.  The environments are teeming
with atmosphere, and filled with quirky nuances from the TV show.  The only real
problem with the graphics is the horrible framerate.  If the graphics were more
complex, then perhaps this might be acceptable.  However, Futurama doesn’t even
come close to flexing the PS2’s graphical muscle, yet for some reason (a lack of
polish, perhaps) the framerates are all over the place falling well below 30
frames per second.

The
sound effects are where Futurama shines the most.  The snappy dialogue (which I
noted earlier) is extremely well-delivered by the original voice cast from the
television show under the voice direction of David X. Cohen (also of Futurama).
The sound effects and music are also lifted directly from the show, and sound
fantastic.

How
much you enjoy Futurama the game will depend on how much you enjoy Futurama the
TV show.  If you’re not really into the show, then you may not like the
frustrating jumping puzzles and otherwise simplistic gameplay. However, if you
are a fan whose been wearing black in mourning since the show was canned, then
you’ll probably love the game, as it’s probably your last chance to see new
material from the creators of the TV show.

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 6.8

Futurama’s gameplay is very simplistic; platform-jumping puzzles are practically
the meat of the game.  To make matters worse, the controls are quite inaccurate,
and the lousy collision detection will have you ripping your hair out.  However,
the gameplay does diversify a bit with vehicle levels and the ability to play as
four different characters from the show.

Graphics: 7.9
The game’s cel-shaded look works nicely and the characters accurately represent
the TV show.  Also, the environments have tons of atmosphere.  However, the
framerates are in the gutter for much of the game.

Sound: 9.0
The
voice acting is superb, featuring the talents of Billy West, Katey Sagal, John
DiMaggio, and many other voice actors from the TV show.  The theme music from
the show has also been lifted and placed in the game in the form of various
remixes.

Difficulty:
Hard
The game is relatively short, it is quite frustrating given the plentiful
jumping puzzles.

Concept: 8.5

All
of the elements from the show have been fantastically preserved, and fans of the
show will be pleased with the storyline and script.  If only the gameplay
weren’t so simplistic.

Overall: 7.0

Futurama does what it sets out to do: it appeals to fans of the TV show and
gives them a chance to play through a “lost episode” of the TV show.  However,
the game probably won’t appeal to those who weren’t really into the show to
begin with, since the gameplay is simplistic platforming and not much else.