| Introduction
We brought you news of 'KONG - The Animated Series'
some time ago and the main reason it's taken us so long
to get a review copy is that it's apparently not shown
in some areas of Europe - meaning my copy had to make
its way from the U.S.A.
There is a point to this because, well, the series
itself wasn't that popular and although it may have
seemed like a good idea to feature a genetically enhanced
son of Kong, very few people actually watched it and
the critics generally panned it.
What you have to remember here though is that publishing
companies sign these types of deals in the early stages
of a movie or TV series' development. Remember the Titan
AE games that were pulled at the eleventh hour because
the movie performed so badly at the box office? A bad
movie doesn't necessarily make for a bad game though
so it is completely conceivable that the incredibly
talented Planet Interactive team have done well with
this one.
GamePlay
Quite honestly, this is as simple as they come. Enter
an area, collect three ancient parchments and one or
two Primal stones whilst fighting off enemies and collecting
bonus items. This works well enough in the outdoor locations
but other levels such as the museum have some oddly
placed platforms, which are not always that easy to
negotiate.
After a couple of these it's off to fight one of
the hybrid creatures that seem to be everywhere in this
strange land. This takes the form of a simple beat'em
up with precious few moves at your disposal other than
punch, kick and throw. The first of these bouts offers
little challenge but come the third one and the difficulty
level goes through the roof making it almost impossible
to win.
Every level gives you the ability to change between
Kong, Jason or even a combination of the two but only
when your COM link indicates you're in range. The unfortunate
thing is that you'll notice little difference in your
overall effectiveness although Kong is undoubtedly the
more robust of the two. The COM link also informs you
of any mission updates and more importantly what needs
to be achieved before you can exit the level.
The password system while not the best we've encountered
isn't the worst either. It looks a little daunting initially
with enough spaces for a 15-digit code but you'll be
pleased to learn that most are five letters or less
with a number or two following which records your position
and lives remaining.
Controls
The control system suffers from bad implementation
and although simple, is really not as responsive as
it should be. It's not that Kong or Jason aren't athletic,
they just never quite do what you expect them to.
An example of this would be when you're approaching
a gap that you wish to cross. Now you're well aware
of how high you can jump and mixed with the speed you're
traveling you should easily clear this distance but
for some unknown reason you never quite manage to. This
is one of many flaws which although harmless in itself,
can cause you to throw your GBA against a wall after
a few levels.
Graphics
Like us, having seen the screens in the middle of
last year, you'd be forgiven for thinking that KONG
was going to be a visual treat. Don't get me wrong,
the various cut screens are beautiful and the five different
areas demonstrate the high level of visual excellence
that the developers, Planet Interactive, are famed for.
It all starts to go wrong, however, when anything
starts to move and outside of Kong himself, the animation
is pretty poor. This is most noticeable with the various
Jungle creatures that attempt to attack you. For example,
lions spin around (no, really) when hit whilst other
creatures simply flatten and bounce away. Such simple
and unimaginative animation is uncharacteristic of Planet
and I can only assume that the clock was against them
or there simply wasn't enough money on the table to
warrant sufficient development time.
Sound & Music
Sad to say, the audio in KONG never manages to rise
above the bare minimum. It starts out with a soundtrack
that could pass for a budding musician's first composition,
not because it's terrible but because it's very simple
in both construct and execution.
The sound effects too are limited to the odd roar,
punch and groan and given that most of these could have
easily been lifted from the series, what's available
is a huge disappointment. Really, in terms of audio,
this is one of the weakest games I've encountered for
some time and arguably one where neither headphones
nor speakers are required.
Final Comments
Outside of the initial visual impact, it's hard to
think of any redeeming features in this game or more
importantly any reason why you should buy it. Unimaginative
level design, substandard animation and plain old boring
gameplay are inexcusable at this stage in the GBA's
lifecycle. It's not that the ideas and design in KONG
are bad but the whole package seems to be a game that
started out with the very best intentions and suffered
due to too little time invested, not enough care or,
more likely, a combination of the two. Quite simply
KONG is a mix of almost everything that's bad about
a TV/movie license rolled into one very frustrating
and unrewarding game.
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