Nickelodeon certainly has quite an impressive list of characters that have
jumped out of their animated show and into consoles like the GameCube and
PlayStation 2. Whether you love a talking sponge that lives in a pineapple under
the sea or a rambunctious young science genius, there’s everything for everyone.
Tak fans aren’t left out either seeing as the young shaman starred in a number
of decent adventure/platform games. Tak and the Guardians of Gross for
the PS2 is the latest entry in the series and, sadly, not the best one.
That
Juju that you do
Placed in
charge of cleaning up an important and sacred shrine in the Pupununu Village,
Tak accidentally breaks a magical crystal that unleashes a number of giant and
super gross giant monsters that have been placed in captivity for befouling the
entire area. Now it is up to Tak to defeat each giant and put them back in
crystal form to once again bring peace to Pupununu and the surrounding villages.
He even gets a helping hand from his good friend Jeera as well as guardians that
grant him new juju powers to combat the monsters.
Like past
games in the series, Tak and the Guardians of Gross contains platform
action and Tak’s shaman magic. As Tak heads out to defeat each giant, he must go
through the jungle and its diverse terrain and survive attacks from unfriendly
warriors as well as monsters that protect each giant. Armed with his staff, Tak
is able to dish out spells as well as solve puzzles that occasionally pop up
throughout the adventure. As I mentioned above, Tak even encounters four
guardians that offer new juju if Tak completes a series of four short mini-games
(which you can also share with a friend via the game’s multiplayer mode).
Aside from
jumping from platform to platform, the game takes some familiar gameplay
elements and adds them to Tak’s ability to double jump and flip over enemies.
Like the Prince of Persia, Tak can now wall run across chasms or run up a
wall to cling to ledges that are normally hard to reach even with a double jump.
Tak gains a new juju spell that surrounds him in a ball made of goo to roll
through the environment much like in the Super Monkey Ball series. Even
battling the giants, like the walking trash pile that is Trashthulu, will remind
older gamers a little of Shadow of the Colossus. The game even adds a
driving level and a chase level where you can shoot fire out of your staff in
first-person view.
Shaman
blues
With all
these new gameplay features and elements, you would think that this makes for an
interesting and fun Tak adventure. Sadly, this is not the case and a big reason
is the fact that gamers have no control over the camera whatsoever. This will
often lead to platform jumping into an abyss or miscalculating a jump from one
platform to the next. This is not only frustrating but it also give the game a
very dated feel that will surely aggravate even the most youngest of gamers.
Luckily, you instantly respawn and start again from the point where you died.
Then there
are the enemies that often stand around waiting for you to attack them. The ones
that are able to fight back do not require much skill to defeat. This might be a
good thing if you have a very young gamer but it becomes quite tedious and
boring for the older set. There are some puzzles in the game that require use of
your staff or a new juju magic called Lumpy Magic but thanks to the constant
hand-holding in the game you’ll know exactly what to do. The constant reminders
and hints are bearable but the puzzles can be a bit more inventive than this?
Speaking
of uninventive, the boss battles aren’t much fun either. Each of the four giants
has their own grossness and it would have been fun to defeat them in a more
challenging manner. Still, the battles aren’t completely dull. Battling
Trashthulu has its fun moments where you attempt to climb the behemoth and the
Stinkolossus boss fight gets more intense in the end.
Not
the prettiest face in the village
Visually,
Tak and the Guardians of Gross isn’t anything spectacular to look at
despite some decent animation clips and cut scenes that reveal just how big the
giants are compared to the diminutive Tak. The character models up close look
straight out of the show and they’re not bad at all but it’s unfortunate that
the flat backgrounds aren’t very pretty at all. At least the visual effects work
nicely.
The game’s
sound fares a lot better than the visuals and if you’re a fan of the show you
will know why. The voice actors are all present and much of the show’s humor is
also intact so you can expect loads of funny dialogue fans will enjoy. Even the
music feels like it comes straight from the show with its tribal beats.
Tak and
the Guardians of Gross
for the PlayStation 2 just doesn’t have the right juju to be much fun
like past games in the Tak lineup of titles. This is most unfortunate seeing as
the game does try to branch out in certain places but with a lack of innovation
and a few flaws here and there and we have a game that platform gamers young and
old won’t find too compelling or fun. Sorry but this isn’t a Tak game I
would recommend to fans of the show or character. You’re better off looking for
the first and second game instead.
|
Review Scoring Details |
Gameplay: 5.5
As far as platform
games are concerned, this one attempts to mix things up with mini-games and
other familiar elements (play as Jeera) but it just doesn’t come together as
smoothly as is should have seeing as Tak’s other offerings weren’t bad at all.
Some of the Juju powers are cool but cannot hide a dated game with a few flaws.
Graphics: 5.5
This is not the most
visually stunning PS2 game and some of the backgrounds can get repetitive and
rather dull. The character models aren’t bad at all and there are some occasions
when the graphics really do stand out.
Sound: 7.5
The game’s music
sounds like it comes directly from the show and that should satisfy fans of the
program. Even the voice acting feels like you’re watching an episode. The sound
effects are simply Ok, though.
Difficulty: Medium
You will die a lot
in this game but not because the bosses or enemies are smart or challenging but
because you have no direct control over the camera. Some glitches in the game
will also cause Tak to drop to his death.
Concept: 5.5
Tak takes on some
mighty giants in this one and gains a few powers worthy of the young shaman. The
level design isn’t bad and there are is some variety to the platform fun but it
just feels too dated to be fun for very long. You can share Story Mode’s
mini-games with a friend and the game even comes with an episode from the
Nickelodeon show.
Multiplayer: 5.0
Grab a friend and
play any of the four mini-games from the single-player portion of the game. The
mini-games are actually fun for a limited time so don’t expect young gamers to
playing the multiplayer game for very long.
Overall: 5.5
As far as Tak
games are concerned, Tak and the Guardians of Gross for the PS2 is the
weakest entry in the series and a flawed platform game even younger gamers will
find disappointing. This is really too bad seeing that the game does try to mix
up the platform action. It just goes about it in a dated fashion that just
doesn’t work for the character.
