| Introduction
Kirikou, an action/platform game is based on the
award winning French animated feature film "Kirikou
and the Sorceress". Although relatively unknown,
the movie has garnered critical acclaim outside its
homeland and has seen limited release in movie theatres
in the United States. Wanadoo, the game's publisher,
promises that Kirikou "remains true to the world
of the film", and along with the GBC, has also
released a Playstation and PC version. As in the movie,
the game centres around tiny Kirikou, who sets out on
a quest to free his village from a terrible curse placed
by the evil Sorceress, Karaba. Interesting, huh? Well.
let's see...
GamePlay
Kirikou has you battling it out over 12 various levels
in Africa, most of which are platform based, and your
object in all of them is to reach the light blue portal
somewhere at the end. There are things to kill and items
to collect and although your elders may comment that
you didn't achieve everything possible on a given level,
it doesn't seem to hurt your progress in any way. In
addition to your knife and sling, nuggets are also important,
as these serve as ammunition for the sling which enables
you to kill soldiers from a safe distance.
There are, however, some diversions from the platform
style of gameplay and two of the 12 levels require different
disciplines from the player. The first is a river rapids
section where you must negotiate a small boat through
rocks in fast moving water. Things are made a little
more difficult as birds swoop down and rock formations
appear out of nowhere but there are ample bonuses and
health available as you move downstream so this section
shouldn't give you too much problems. The other is a
chase level were you are pursued and must avoid boulders,
trees and spikes in order to escape.
Control
As with everything else in this title, the controls
are just what you'd expect, which means to say that
they are intuitive and will not require reference from
manual. The sprite detection is also up to scratch,
and overall, there's little to complain about in this
department.
Graphics
The visuals really are a mixed bag, so whilst some
of the backgrounds are truly wonderful and reflective
of vivid African cave paintings, others are a little
less impressive. The same can be said of the sprites
- the main sprite of Kirikou is fine but many of the
enemies are a little less inspiring and the whole thing
feels somewhat underdeveloped. There are also numerous
cut scenes consisting of static pages which may appear
a little bland to users spoilt by glorious hi-color
visuals in other titles, although I should add that
the graphics in Kirikou are reflective of the style
of the movie and in all fairness, should be judged as
such.
Sound & Music
I must admit that ever since I've listened to the
wonderful audio that the GBA is capable of, I've been
quite critical of the "noise" that most of
the time passes off as sound or music that comes out
of the GBC. Sad to say, this is the case with the Kirikou
movie score, so don't expect anything fantastic except
for the usual bumps, bangs and whistles. Luckily, as
with all decent titles, audio can be switched off via
the options menu, so the choice is yours.
Final Comments
Despite it's release late in the life cycle of the
GBC, Kirikou has all the hallmarks of a first generation
game. Wanadoo has failed to impress technically and
Kirikou employs none of the tricks or clever programming
that's usually evident in other late release Color titles.
No doubt, it's a decent enough platformer and fun while
it lasts, but that's about it and the lack of any real
depth in gameplay means it falls far short of expectation.
Overall, what you're getting is a very easy platform
game, one that may only appeal to younger gamers or
those that have actually seen and loved the movie. Other
than that, it's not a title you'd readily want to pay
good money for.
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