SEGA SuperStars for EyeToy – PS2 – Review

As a fan and
a proponent of Sony’s outstanding, albeit woefully underutilized, USB camera I
have found Sega Superstars incredibly difficult to rate.  On the one hand,
anytime new software is released for the EyeToy it is a cause for
celebration.  It is a celebration that grows only more raucous when one finds
that not only is one of the greatest luminaries in videogames behind it, but
that it has also included a roster of some of its greatest icons within it.
However on the other hand, one quickly finds that despite the inclusion of the
aptly named Superstars they serve as little more than window dressing for
virtually the same exact EyeToy games we’ve been playing since the very
beginning.  While Sega Superstars features the best versions of these games
because of the characters attached and a few new wrinkles, it is still
essentially the same games.  So, do you give it a higher score because of the
inclusion of these characters?  Or do you knock it down for not bringing
anything new to the table?  Such is the conundrum.

The best
place to begin as we unravel this game’s score is by briefly detailing the
games included.  First up is Samba De Amigo, a rhythm game that finds you
tapping specific icons in tune with the music.  Like most any rhythm game, you
are awarded higher scores for stretching combos together and for tapping the
icon with perfect timing.  The SDA game is incredibly fast paced, forcing you
to often move both hands in time with the music.  Luckily the tracking of the
camera and the response is spot on, making it all the more enjoyable.  The
biggest drawback is without a doubt the miniscule song collection, totaling a
scant seven.  While there are a handful of difficulty levels, which will
stretch your experience some, it’s barely enough to keep your attention for
long.

Next up is
everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog, Sonic.  In Sonic’s game you will guide
Sonic down a clear tunnel collecting rings and chaos emeralds, while avoiding
spike balls.  You guide Sonic down the tunnel by moving an arm around in a
circle moving Sonic along the safest route with the most rings.  As with any
Sonic game there is a great sense of speed, but unlike most Sonic games, the
control isn’t really that great which makes the game much more difficult than
it should be, for all the wrong reasons.  The control is unresponsive making
it nigh impossible to avoid the spike balls and to pick up the seven chaos
emeralds.  It is a game best played in a wide open space with no one else
within striking distance because you’ll find yourself flailing wildly about as
you to attempt to coax Sonic away from danger and into a row of rings.  Of all
the games included, this one is the most disappointing simply because it
features Sega’s most beloved character in a game that quickly makes you feel
as if you have no bearing on the action.  However, it is not the worst game
included, that is reserved for the following, which is…

Crazy Taxi.
If ever there were a mini-game included simply just to get some face time for
a particular character or game mechanic this one is it.  The whole and
singular goal of this game is to make as much noise as humanly possible, while
wildly flinging your limbs in any and all directions to draw the attention of
a taxi.  What!?  Is that even a game?  Well, I suppose it is since you are
timed, but that’s about it.  I’m a big dude with some incredibly powerful
lungs from years of quarterbacking and being a United States Marine, making me
dangerous to both to the physical health of bystanders’ bodies and their
ears.  Enough said.

The next
game on the list is one of my favorites, if only for its future potential,
Virtua Fighter.  In VF you square off against Akira in a good old,
knock-down-drag-out test of wills.  Well, all right, it’s not quite that
dramatic, yet, but it could be.  As you stand across from Akira you’ll be
presented with icons for guarding, attacking, and counter attacking.  The
first two are pretty self explanatory, touch the guard when he attacks; hit
the attack icon to attack him.  The counter attack icon on the other hand is
thrown out there in the heat of battle to try and sucker you in.  You’ll be
punching and kicking attack icons when all of a sudden the counter attack icon
shows up.  Hit it and Akira will nail you with a counter attack.  This game is
a fun, little diversion that I only hope and pray will eventually be fleshed
out into a full-fledged fighting game some day.

Next to
Virtua Fighter, Super Monkey Ball is the game with the next greatest amount of
future potential and would be the best game in the collection if it weren’t
for one very big headache.  In SMB you guide Aiai in his ball (Who in the
devil puts monkeys in a ball?  And how do they pick up bananas through the
ball?) as he traverses courses picking up bananas while trying to reach the
goal before the timer runs out.  You control his movements, like you do in the
full-fledged game by moving the board and not the monkey.  Unlike the
full-fledged game, you accomplish this by placing your arms in predetermined
positions to tilt the board this way and that.  As much as I love SMB 1 and 2,
this is a game begging for a full-on conversion to EyeToy support.  The sense
of speed and movement is amped up considerably with the loss of a controller.
You’ll find yourself swaying wildly and losing balance as you try to guide
Aiai with your entire body.  I dare anyone to play this game with their arms
only.  IMPOSSIBLE!!!  We’ve all seen the gamers who tilt, turn, and lean when
playing a racing or flying game.  This phenomenon is pushed through the roof
here, which makes it a boatload of fun, until you find yourself in a corner.
Guide Aiai into a corner and it all falls apart.  It is almost impossible to
guide him back out, mainly because the camera will not shift into a more
beneficial angle, quickly sucking away the considerable fun you’ve been having
up to that point.  (Reviewers note:  While it’s incredibly frustrating to find
yourself in this position while playing, it is hilarious watching someone else
suffer through it!)

In probably
the most surprising addition, when compared against the rest of the roster, we
have The House of the Dead.  HOTD finds you whacking zombies, bats, and bosses
as you make your way through a suitably spooky and dark environment.  While
all of the games contained on this disc bare a striking resemblance to any
number of other EyeToy games (minus Crazy Taxi, thankfully), this is the one
you’ll feel like you’ve played before the most.  It’s a pretty simple game,
but there is a little more challenge than its forefathers offered.  For one,
some foes require multiple punches to dispatch.  Secondly, they do quickly pop
out from nowhere.  Lastly, in the midst of all your zombie whacking (that
doesn’t sound too good), you’ll invariably find the damsel in distress, who
will return your smack should you accidentally hit her.  There is so much
going on in the screen, that it is very challenging to make it through without
hitting her.

In the “Wow,
not only have I played this before a million times, I’ve already played it on
this disc” category is Space Channel 5 featuring everyone’s, or at least mine,
futuristic, dancing diva/news reporter Ulala.  If you want to know how this
plays, just scroll up and read about Samba De Amigo.  SC5 is a tad more
challenging than SDA because you must memorize the movements and then time it
on your own, but it is virtually the same game.

Next is
exhibit number 2 in the “Wow, not only have I played this before a million
times, I’ve already played it on this disc” category, Nights.  Like Sonic you
guide Nights to pick up blue chips as you fly through rings.  While not nearly
as fast as Sonic, it is much more responsive, but alas, it is essentially the
same game.  However, with the better control and response it is forgiven
because it is one of the most enjoyable games in the collection.

Next up is
the homage to Virtua Striker, which has you knocking a soccer balls off of
your head towards different colored balloons representing different point
amounts.  This game is impressive if only for the accuracy and speed with
which the ball leaves your head.  Every time that I hit a ball, the ball
responded exactly how you’d expect a real world soccer ball to react.  It’s a
pretty challenging game, but there just isn’t a whole lot of substance here
much like the real sport of soccer. (Real football rules!!!)

For those
that could not get enough of the little Chao creatures in Sonic Adventure 1
and 2, a Chao garden has been included just for you.  What this amounts to is
a Tomagotchi (remember those things?) on steroids.  You must rub its egg to
get it to hatch, rub its head and belly to keep it happy, feed it fruit from
the trees (which you gain by shaking) or from the market, and you must provide
toys with which it can play.  Toys and other food items can be purchased with
rings you are awarded for playing the other games.  Really, there is nothing
too much of note here and like the Tomagotchi, it likely won’t appeal to
anyone but little girls.

The
remaining games, ChuChu Rocket, Billy Hatcher, and Puyo Pop Fever are far and
away the most innovative contained on the disc and therefore the most
“un-alike” ones as well.  ChuChu Rocket has you controlling two to four
switches, which open and close bridges for the ChuChu’s as they make their way
to the rocket.  With that said, let me get this out of the way right off the
bat, “This game is INTENSE!”  I know it doesn’t sound like it, but it is.  The
ChuChu’s pop up with increasing frequency on the various paths forcing you to
eventually wish that you had four arms.  Making matters even more difficult is
that KapuKapu’s also show up within your line of ChuChu’s forcing you to
quickly drop the bridge when he crosses only to raise it immediately after so
that the following ChuChu’s don’t meet the same fate.  Fail to rid yourself of
the KapuKapu and they’ll eat your ChuChu’s when they reach the rocket lowering
your score.

Billy
Hatcher and the Giant Egg has you cleansing the Earth of Stormtroopers and
Orcs as they try to revive Sauron aboard the Death Star.  Not really!!!  You
play as Billy as he tries to guide his egg to their destination while picking
up fruit and squashing wayward enemies with his giant egg.  You control the
egg by waving over hand icons on the screen.  Wave over the right and the egg
turns left and vice versa, while waving over both will move him straight
ahead.  The inverted, albeit realistic, egg steering takes a little getting
used to, but this game is surprisingly fun and egg-cellent.

Finally
there is my favorite game in the collection, Puyo Pop Fever.  In this game you
have tons of different colored Puyos raining down atop you from the heavens,
which you must catch on your outstretched arms and guide into like colored
baskets.  However, mixed in with the Puyos are bombs, which can blow up the
contents of your baskets.  Sounds simple enough, but in practice it is quite
challenging and a lot of fun.  Leaving your arms outstretched for too long
will pile Puyos atop your arms and head filling the screen.  When overburdened
such as this, tilting will quickly spill the Puyos on your arms, but some get
stuck on the other side of your neck and shoulder forcing you to use your
entire body should you need to get them to the other side.  This is a pretty
impressive little piece of technology in that it realistically keeps up with
literally hundreds of Puyos and their reactions to the position of your body.

Graphically
speaking, this is far and away the best-looking EyeToy to date.  All of the
superstars are presented in all of their glory or decay in the case of the
zombies.  Colors are suitably bright and there is usually quite a bit going on
besides the flailing of your body.  Also of note are some pretty good particle
effects.  All across the board and the games, everything is sharp and lovingly
rendered.  However, with a game that features your smiling face and
windmilling, feel free to adjust the score in relation to your appearance.

The game
also fairs pretty well in the sound department.  Each game and the characters
included all feature their trademark sounds and music.  You’ll hear wailing
guitar rifts as Sonic rockets down the tube, as well as the suitably whimsical
music of Billy Hatcher and so on.  Including the familiar sounds and music of
each game is a huge plus, since many of which are near and dear to gamer’s
hearts.

So what
about the conundrum I spoke of at the beginning?  Save for a disappointing
appearance from Sonic and the ill-conceived Crazy Taxi game, the rest of the
games included are of high quality and ultimately fun and inviting to gamers
and non-gamers alike.  It is disappointing that so much of what is contained
here has been done to varying degrees of success by virtually everyone before
it that has released EyeToy content, but there is no denying that they are the
best examples of each style of play available.  Another huge positive here is
potential.  Several of the games here could realistically be reworked into
full version EyeToy games that would greatly enhance the individual licenses,
as well as take advantage of this awesome little peripheral like none other.
From Super Monkey Ball to Virtua Fighter to ChuChu Rocket, to even possibly
Nights, the potential is there for EyeToy games that could be held in the same
light as our standard games. 

Overall for
fans of the EyeToy, the inclusion of Sega’s tremendous stable of characters,
as well as the tweaks here and there to the games similar to those past, make
it a title worthy of your consideration.  Whether or not you decide to
purchase will ultimately hinge upon how much you liked the previous games of
this style and or your obsession with all things Sega.  Those gamers who will
benefit most from Sega Superstars are those who have yet to take the EyeToy
plunge.  If you’ve been considering purchasing the EyeToy, this is the game
that will make you most appreciate that purchase.  It truly is the best
representations of the “common” EyeToy games.  The games are fun, forcing you
to use your entire body in some cases, and who can argue with opportunity to
spend some time with the likes of these characters in ways that you never
have.

Review Scoring Details for Sega Superstars

Gameplay: 8.5
Save for Sonic
and the “corner” hiccup of Super Monkey Ball, the gameplay is spot on and
responsive.  Most of the games are an absolute blast, which will also give you
a pretty good workout in the process.  Also of note is that this game makes
for an incredible party game, being both fun to play and watch.  There are a
nice variety of gameplay styles included, however short they may ultimately
be.

Graphics: 8.5
What is there
faithfully recreates the licenses and characters from which they came.  In
most of the case the graphics amount to a “picture frame” for the image of
yourself, but they look sharp and feature quite a bit of animation.  Those
that feature more graphics and less you, look great and animate well.

Sound: 8.0
While the music
and sounds inherent to each game are spot on from their respective licenses,
there’s really not much else beyond that.  What is there, simply because many
of these licenses are so well beloved, has a very high nostalgia factor which
is appreciated.

Difficulty: Medium
There is numerous
difficulties included which are subsequently opened by beating each game on
the default difficulty, which usually begins as incredibly easy.  However, the
later difficulties do present a very healthy challenge.

Concept: 7.9
The game gets
points simply for being an EyeToy game and for the occasions where brand new
chapters to these franchises have potentially been born.  Unfortunately, in
all too many cases the games amount to just barely new takes on virtually
every other EyeToy game before it.  While they do tend to be improved takes on
these old formulas, they will seem too familiar to some.

Overall: 8.3
Overall, Sega
Superstars is the best example of the “usual” EyeToy games, but therein lays
its biggest weakness, familiarity.  It’s great to have the Sega legends all on
one disc and it is great that most that is here is well done, but it could
have been so much more.  EyeToy fans will love what is included here, but
whether that is reason enough to purchase it depends on how much they like
Sega and this style of gameplay.  Newbies to the EyeToy will get the most
enjoyment and appreciation out of this disc, ably showing them why the EyeToy
is quite possibly the greatest peripheral ever.  Another big positive to this
package is the ability to play with these beloved characters in ways not
before imagined.  Ultimately, this is a very solid package, with massive
potential for future iterations of not only Superstars, but also for the
actual franchises from where these Superstars came.