Code Lyoko
Score: 77% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: The Game Factory Developer: DC Studios Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure/ Action
Graphics & Sound: Hard to believe the French are invading anything, and well, they aren't exactly coming in and taking over, but they're giving it a heck of a try. Code Lyoko is a Computer Generated anime that has had quite a following, even here in the U.S. with its appearance on Cartoon Network and with a series of Manga books. I personally watched a few episodes, and admittedly they were very cut and dry little excerpts without much actual story. Thankfully, the game provides a longer story than the show. The opening scene, and all of the cinematics for that matter, have to be by far the best looking and smoothest running videos I have seen on the DS to date. A bold statement? Maybe, But to give the French their due, they have been known for their graphics in the game industry since its inception. The look of the game is very stylized and each character representation looks crisp and clean. The avatars and animation are fluid, making for a great looking game experience. The music is straight from the TV series, which is to be expected. The dialogue is text based, so no need to fight foreign dialogue. The actual in-mission music is a little more than monotonous, thus making for an about average listening experience over all.
Gameplay: Code Lyoko is an adventure game that is played out in two worlds. The first is, of course, the real world and the second is the computer generated world. The story follows a group of 5 children attending a boarding school when one of them discovers a super computer hidden in a secret location and cracks into the world of Lyoko. Exiled in this computer is a malicious sentient computer virus called X.A.N.A.. The virus is bent on world domination and now that it has been loosed upon the real world, it is up to these enterprising kids to clean up the mess they have made and keep X.A.N.A. from taking over the world. In order to combat the enemy, you must meet him on his level. Just like the Matrix, die here - stay here. The real world navigation works just like a classic point and click adventure. Move around the campus buildings using the D-Pad or stylus. But, in the virtual world of Lyoko, you move around the 3D platformer on a guided track. Use weapons and abilities that are unique to each character as you move in and destroy the towers that X.A.N.A. puts up to make connections between the virtual and real worlds. Switch mid-mission to take advantage of the different talents each character has.
Difficulty: So it's a kids' game based off a kids' TV series. Code Lyoko should be a fairly straightforward game with simple puzzles, tasks, and challenges. So what makes this game so frustrating and hard? The map system. What should be an easy system of "you are here" and "go here" is complicated by an obscure set of shoulder-triggered map coordinates. You are constantly being blocked from advancing in areas you should be able to walk past. Stationary maps do not show up in any recognizable orientation. It is really frustrating to head toward the guiding marker only to not be able to pass through an area that would seem to be clear. We have come a long way in the geography of games. I though we had gotten past invisible walls and impassable areas. The strictness of exploration makes this a difficult and frustrating game experience.
Game Mechanics: With the ability to play on two planes in Code Lyoko, and with the mixing of the classic point and click adventure with a 3D Platformer, you have a nice delineation and sensation that you are really playing in two worlds. The restrictive maneuverability of the real world gameplay is a real disappointment. This is a problem that is a throwback to a bygone age of early gaming. There is also the stale feeling of having several NPC's who were standing around, but wouldn't acknowledge you even existed. You can take that two ways. One, you are experiencing boarding school with people who ignore you or two, there needs to be more interaction. It was nice to use multiple characters to solve puzzles in the game. Not only was it a good game element, it was true to the spirit of the TV series as well. Overall, this game gives me a less than spectacular gaming experience, but there were some great things that I want to see more of like the crisp cut scenes and good looking, easy to recognize characters. But in the long run, there are things I want to see much less of like a closed-off, on-rails point and click. They are supposed to be fostering exploration in an adventure game, not closing it off. I trust we haven't seen the last of X.A.N.A. and his plot to take over the world, but until they can solve the stale real-world play, it is only half a game.
-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd
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