‘Twas there once was a night
so grim and so creepy
It kept everyone up, even
though they were sleepy
They sat on their hands and
waited for a story
Of thrills and chills and
something that’s gory
Tim Burton had returned to
tell another tale
A journey we had hoped
wouldn’t be stale
Jack was back to save a
scientist’s brain
From good old Oogie who had
gone insane
There were puzzles,
backtracking, and many a rhyme
Ghosts and goblins and a
little bit of slime
A ghostly dog, who else? Who
knows?
You’ll find your way by
following his nose
You were given new powers –
you could be Santa Claus!
The game’s presentation
deserves an applause
The graphics are stellar;
the art is unique
Every character’s
disgusting, everyone is a freak
That’s a big part of the
unusual charm
But wait, hold it, we must
sound the alarm!
There is one flaw that holds
this game back
It’s bound to the gameplay
and our hero – Jack
Tirm Burton’s The
Nightmare Before Christmas was a dark and original tale that made you think
twice about Halloween ghouls. Designed from the ground up with creepiness in
mind, the eerie cast turned Tim Burton’s Nightmare into the most popular
full-length claymation film of all time. Corpse Bride is the only film that
has come close to matching its success.
More than a decade has
passed since Nightmare’s release and we still haven’t gotten confirmation of a
movie sequel. We do, however, have a semi-sequel in the form of the video game
entitled The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge.
Classic scenarios were
re-created for real-time animation sequences, while others were created to be
fully explored. You never know when a villain is going to break out into song,
though you can expect to hear music before and/or during almost every battle.
(I loved the "Halloween" chant the first 20 times I heard it. After that, not
so much.) Most importantly Oogie’s Revenge is an action game with deep roots
in the title Capcom loves to spin off: Devil May Cry.
Raziel used a Soul Reaver
in his last adventure. Samonosuke used his own soul-sucking device in Onimusha.
Dante, the gun-toting star of Devil May Cry, collects glowing orbs that are
left behind by fallen enemies. Clearly the gaming community is trying to send
a message: to make a good action game you must let players take home a piece
of the dead, whether it’s their soul, a body part, or an orb that’s left
undefined.
Jack Skellington begins
his journey by acquiring a soul-sucking device of his own: the Soul Robber.
Not the most original device by any means, the Soul Robber lets you collect
souls and trade them in for priceless upgrades. Souls may only be obtained
after the enemy is dead – they can’t be extracted prematurely as they can in
other titles. This builds a thick barrier between the player and his or her
success for the first 30 minutes. It’ll take that long to figure out the
various control elements, none of which are overly challenging, but all have a
certain level of expertise that must be reached before serious progress can be
made.
Oogie’s Revenge is a
Devil May Cry clone with the exception that Jack’s adventure is much slower
and involves a LOT more backtracking than Dante would be willing to tolerate.
The Soul Robber is long and stringy and can be used to punch or to grab and
toss enemies. Fun stuff, but Jack’s attacks are at least 50% slower than
Dante’s.
Enemies re-spawn as soon
as you return to previously visited locations. The number of enemies and the
types of those that attack will change as different objectives are added to
your missions. Jack will be asked (required) to run around in circles to
complete all of the things that his so-called friends and neighbors expect him
to do. I need a key to a door – let’s go talk to this guy over here. He wants
something in exchange, time to go back a few steps. It turns out one of these
guys wants a cookie, I guess I’ll have to backtrack a bit further. All this
running around, all the repeated battles, and repeated scenarios, and the
overwhelming desire to explore new territory were potential game breakers.
The game is saved by its
less repetitive features, including but not limited to: clever boss battles,
memorable music, and several environments that must be seen.
Oogie’s Revenge’s boss
battles were inspired by Capcom’s greatest titles, no question, but unlike the
core gameplay they were not cloned from an existing title. Most bosses like to
exercise their vocal cords while battling, creating one of the most original
sequences gamers have ever seen. While you’re attacking with everything you’ve
got, the boss is throwing out clever rhymes that relate to the story.
To win you’ll have to
find the boss’s weak spot, pierce it, and collect the falling music notes. No
two bosses are alike – no weaknesses are repeated. Music notes may be
collected to release a more powerful attack. The strength of that attack is
determined by how many buttons you hit as they scroll across the screen. I
normally hate that sort of thing. But it’s put to good use in this game. In
some circumstances you will have to reveal the weak spot (it might be
protected), strike a few times and, before the boss protects itself again, and
collect enough music notes and hit several of them successfully to unleash a
full blast.
Capcom is known for
leaving notes and information surrounding objects in their games and Oogie’s
Revenge is no exception. "A guillotine, exquisite!" Jack says upon examining
the one in town. "Just like the one I had as a boy." Enter the local shop and
poke around for this hilarious banter: "So many terrible things to choose from
— how splendid!"
Oogie Boogie’s note
reads: "This lord of the flies, bugs and slugs once tried to snuff out Santa
and pop Jack’s Pumpkin Head. Now he’s back to finish the job, and he’s
enlisted the help of the most treacherous trio of Lock, Shock and Barrel."
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Gameplay: 7.5
Are your enemies
feeling tired? Rundown? Sad and sluggish? Whip them into the shape using the
Soul Robber! This invention is so incredible it can actually make your enemies
disappear, bringing their weight down to nothing!
"That’s incredible!"
You’ll spend the majority
of the game whipping enemies; the rest of your time will be spent running back
and forth between levels. The frequent backtracking gets annoying, but given
that Oogie’s Revenge is like Devil May Cry and was developed by Capcom, it
still manages to provide a memorable experience. I’m not going to play through
this game as much as I played through Onimusha or Devil May Cry, but will I
return to Halloween Town again someday? You bet.
Graphics: 8.9
From claymation
to polygons, Oogie’s Revenge is one of the best-looking games of the year. The
environments, character designs and animation are amazing.
Sound: 8.5
The unforgettable
sounds of The Nightmare Before Christmas resurface with new themes and new
rhymes. Movie-quality acting from the same voice talent featured in the film.
It’s like you’re listening to the film’s soundtrack, voice overs and all.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 7.5
Oogie’s Revenge’s
boss battles (including Oogie Boogie himself) are some of Capcom’s best work.
Oogie, the scientist, and that giant spider – the strategy needed to defeat
these bosses will put a smile on your face. The musical aspect turned out to
be a wonderful part of the experience.
The general game tasks
are not nearly as inventive. You want me to bring the gatekeeper a cookie?
Please! The story is good, but the excuses used to make us complete boring
tasks are lame.
Overall: 7.6
The Nightmare
Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge is a slower variation of the Onimusha/Devil
May Cry gameplay. It has its own original elements – Jack can dance around his
opponents to evade attacks; he can be come Santa Claus to deceive enemies,
etc. Unique boss battles make for big fun, and you will love exploring and
seeing the different levels for the first time.
