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Star Wars Episode 1 - Obi Wan's Adventures
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Graphics & Sound:
The Star Wars franchise is almost instantly recognizable, especially within the average age-range of Nintendo's Game Boy Color. THQ has licensed several games set in the Episode 1 universe, and we have LucasArts and HotGen Studios to thank for the graphics and design of the recently released Obi-Wan's Adventures. Locations in the game are well designed and look good, from mechanical starship settings to the swamps of Naboo. Bright colors and big textures were seemingly traded in favor of more detailed backgrounds and subtle coloring. I wished the character models could have been a little bigger, as the animations for battle and movement don't have much punch. Nice touches in the graphics help, though. In some of the battle scenes with more than one enemy, a frame appears around the screen to give the action a 'movie' setting. Sound and music are truly awesome, with lightsaber 'zzzz!' sounds and that Star Wars music we all know and love.
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Gameplay:
Obi-Wan's Adventures attempts to provide adventure-style gameplay comparable to the run-and-gun third-person titles on larger consoles. Think of games like Loaded and Expendable if you've yet to try one of the Star Wars games on any console. In fact, the larger console version of this was a fairly strong showing, if a little on the dull side. As GBC action goes, Obi Wan's Adventures succeeds in many areas. Playing as Obi-Wan, the gameplay is about half adventure and exploration and half action. Clearing levels is usually done by completing a simple objective or just finding the exit; fighting through armies of droids, bounty hunters and deadly traps makes the journey more interesting. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan's arsenal includes the lightsaber, blaster and The Force. I thought Jedis renounced blasters in favor of lightsabers... In one of the weaker gameplay items, the balance between the three weapons is poorly executed. Other than some places in the game where The Force is required to lift a box or remove an obstacle, fighting and solving puzzles with the lightsaber is all you do. I wished there could have been more time when the blaster was needed or when you could have used The Force for more in-depth puzzle solving efforts. The cool thing about fighting with the lightsaber is how it works for defense and offense. It doesn't take more than button-mashing, but when enemies fire on you, swinging the lightsaber causes shots to be deflected. In some games, facing off against multiple enemies means you have to go berserk on the offense. Obi Wan's Adventures is just the opposite. A roomful of droids is really just an opportunity to use their blasters against them. If you can get into this, it's probably my favorite aspect of the game. Some enemies can't be tackled directly, and using the deflection technique is how you take them out or just get by without losing life-points. Power-ups are located through the level for recharging The Force and getting blaster ammunition, along with extra life. Traps in the level require some creative dashing and jumping, but I wasn't much impressed with the mushy jumping action Obi-Wan has... I mean, aren't Jedis supposed to be able to move effortlessly?
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Difficulty:
Apart from some of the cheaper deaths caused by control problems, Obi Wan's Adventures doesn't provide enough challenge. Puzzles aren't much more than entering a room and tripping a number of switches in the right sequence or destroying several objects in a level. Facing off against enemies stronger than you doesn't feel much more difficult than fighting droids, since the lightsaber works equally well to deflect shots from a gun turret as it does the puny droid blasters. The levels are big enough to encourage exploration; with plenty of ground to cover, it's a shame there isn't more diversity in gameplay.
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Game Mechanics:
I'm always more than a little impressed when a GBC game can convey a sense of exploration and adventure. Obi Wan's Adventures feels like a muddy version of the Jedi experience, but intentions were nothing but good. (A) and (B) buttons control weapons and jumping, while using Select changes the active weapon. Success with a blaster doesn't take a brain surgeon, but working with the lightsaber is also deceptively easy. Deflecting shots, as described before, is all about swingin' that energy-sword like there's no tomorrow. Trick is, depending on how you come at the enemy, shots are deflected differently. So, working strategically through a room of enemies is not as hard because control lies in facing the right guy and deflecting his shots to wipe out the others. The dark side (heh) of control comes with the traps and obstacles. Removing an obstacle with The Force is done by pressing a button after targeting what you want to move. If only using old Obi-Wan's jumping ability were so easy! Trying to navigate platform-like sections in a level is really messy, and uses much more of your life energy than anything else. I really didn't like how hard it was to move by jumping, and forget about the jump as a battle-tactic. A trusty lightsaber is all you need to win this game, and that's too bad in some ways. I really would have liked to see more depth for the other weapons, or maybe enough fluidity in controlling the character to include some Platforming without causing instant frustration. Obi Wan's Adventures will be a must-buy for Star Wars freaks (and there's more than a few), but flawed control and lack of depth make for a generally average experience.
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-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock |
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