| Introduction
With two Gameboy Color titles under his belt it was
only a matter of time before an Advance version of Lucky
Luke was developed By Infrogrames. This is yet another
European comic book character who's little known in
the rest of the world but in his native France is something
of a star. Well over 50 years old now and bearing more
than a passing resemblance to Woody from Toy Story,
the adventures of this quiet cowboy have entertained
millions. Now after outings on the PC and Playstation
here's the latest for Nintendo's new handheld.
GamePlay
This is an original game for the GBA and although
heavily based on the PC version it is, thankfully, not
just an updated version of a Gameboy Color title. It
does however pull a great deal of inspiration from previous
titles on a variety of formats so anyone familiar with
these will be right at home here. The Dalton Brothers
are out of jail again and it's up to Luke and friends
to make sure they're put back behind bars as soon as
possible though actually achieving this is easier said
than done.
Almost all the levels here have the same objectives,
the main one being to stay alive. As most would-be assassins
stay well hidden this is always a challenge. Throughout
the various areas you'll find collectibles, including
bullets for your gun (you only start with a limited
amount), health stars and the all important aces which
allow you to enter the bonus levels. Also essential
to completion of each stage is a puzzle element which
may require you to find a key to a door or a ticket
for the train and although usually quite easy to find
actually implementing them in the correct manner is
not always so simple.
The sub and hidden games are plentiful and discovering
them is well worth the effort as they're not only fun
to play but also give you extra lives on completion.
You have four subs to choose from initially via the
menu which can also be played as a link-up. These include
a dancing contest with 'Pappa the Rappa' style controls
and arm wrestling with your horse. On the hidden side
there's a bar shoot out where you must hit as many flying
bottles in a given time limit and the canyon gallop
where you must collect dollar bills from your horse
while avoiding on-coming objects. One minor drawback
is that, in order for you and a friend to play head
to head, you require two copies of the game. These mini
games are great fun but relatively simple programming
and if Nintendo can produce F-Zero and Mario Cart as
multiple player games with one cart then surely everyone
else should be making an effort to do so too.
Finally, one aspect of the game which deserves a
mention is the password system. Not only is it simple,
with only four numbers to input, but also intelligent.
On entering it you will be taken to your status screen
which is basically a menu which allows you to replay
all the levels again including the hidden sub games.
This makes it even more important to find those aces
but once you discover the kind of places they're tucked
away you shouldn't have too much difficulty in locating
all of them.
Controls
This could have been a possible problem area in this
game as outside of the actual platform sections all
the extras and sub games have very different controls.
Fortunately the developers have made this very simple
and every new challenge is preceded by an instruction
screen explaining what's about to happen and just how
you should control it.
Graphics
This is a visual treat, the in-game graphics and
animation are wonderful and manage to retain the style
of the original comic books. In addition you're also
presented with animated cut scenes which are far better
at forwarding the story than static screens ever are.
If all this isn't enough some of the hidden sub games
are outstanding, the 'canyon gallop', for instance,
is a clever graphical trick but it still looks amazing
on the GBA.
Sound & Music
The background music in this title is yet another
highlight of the stunning production values that have
been employed. Every location is accompanied by atmospheric
Western-style music, reminiscent of the tunes from those
old pianos that appeared to play themselves. The sound
effects are also well above average. This is definitely
an excuse to buy a decent set of headphones just for
your GBA.
Final Comments
Don't be put off if you've never heard of Lucky Luke
and his adventures (and there will be plenty of you).
Platformers are pouring out for the GBA and making a
decision about what is actually worth the money is a
challenge in itself however the variety on offer here
should make even those who normally avoid this genre
at least give it a second look. For fans of platformers
this is a must purchase especially as the amount of
extras add value to an already outstanding product.
|
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