Joe Teed

Starsky & Hutch

May 10, 2004

PC / Reviews / by Joe Teed Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/starskyandhutch/cover.jpg[/floatleft]Starsky & Hutch is an interesting take on the licensed game. Instead of trying to exactly capture the feel of the original media (in this case the classic TV show and NOT the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson remake movie), it takes the elements from the show that are most compatible with a video game and goes crazy with them. To fully enjoy this game, you really need the right equipment and perhaps even the right attitude, but I found it to be a classic driving action game right up there with Crazy Taxi and Lucky and Wild.

As you would expect, the game involves Starsky & Hutch driving around in their famous Red Ford Torino dealing with the criminal element by driving after them and shooting them. You can elect to have the computer control the auto aiming (although you still have to shoot) or using the mouse to blaze away at the bad guys with your free hand. For the actual driving I was using a steering wheel, and the game seems to have been made for the wheel/mouse combo. The car handled just the way you would expect a muscle car to handle, and I had no problem sliding and handbrake turning my way through the streets of Bay City.

In order to better catch the criminals, the heroes can pick up powerups by running over or shooting icons floating in midair. These range from speed boosts and grip, to weapons and bonus VR points (see below). This system is really a lot of fun and separates the game from potentially being another generic chase-em-up. You use these powerups to destroy criminals you are chasing or to defend cars you may be escorting.

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/starskyandhutch/ss02_thumb.jpg[/floatright]Unlike most games, Starsky & Hutch does not concern itself with your health. Your job is to achieve some police oriented task, such as shooting up a bank robber’s getaway vehicle or protect another car, while maintaining the interest of the audience. All of your performance is based on keeping your audiences interest, represented by a number called your viewer rating (VR), as high as possible. When you do exciting things, like jump over a ramp, skid through a turn, swerve through traffic, or run over an obstacle, your VR goes up. When you do bad things like hit civilian traffic, drive towards pedestrians, get shot, or shoot at people you aren’t supposed to, your VR drops. The VR alone determines how you are doing on the mission. You can bang up your car, temporarily lose your suspect, and even flip yourself and you will be able to keep going, but once you lose all your VR the game is over. The VR you have left determines what rank you get for the episode. I liked this system because it encourages you to drive through things, over ramps, and generally behave like the maniacs Starsky and Hutch were on the show.

The replay factor on Starsky & Hutch is pretty amazing considering what a simple game it is. In addition to the main episodes, there are other modes which you can unlock by getting better ranks in the episodes or completing certain secondary objectives. TV Specials are unlocked by completing those secondary objectives, and are just a grueling test of your driving or shooting skills. The challenges are pretty fun, and well worth unlocking. The Free Roam mode lets you drive around town with no enemies to shoot, but just to keep it interesting they give you strategically placed icons to find. This mode really helps you learn the maps and can be a big advantage later when you try missions in the same areas, and you can pick up other cars to drive in this mode here by grabbing icons on each level. You can also unlock the ability to watch the cutscenes, photos from the show, or even an interview with the actor who played Huggy Bear by picking up huggy bear icons.

The games graphics are flat and colorful, and maybe a bit cartoony, but they fit in very well with the arcadey nature of the game. Cars get beaten up and deformed to show the damage, with hoods and bumpers falling off as they are battered and shot. Sparks fly whenever your car grinds against the wall or when you shoot an enemy, and of course, enemies explode in huge fireballs when shot. The graphics in the game will not knock you off your feet, but they are well done and very appropriate for the story.

Sound is one area where the game is somewhat hit or miss. The gunshots, while not amazing, are more than adequate and the tires screech appropriately as you slide through a turn, but the engine sound just isn’t there. Anyone who has watched the original Starsky & Hutch probably remembers the enormous growl of the Ford Torino’s monster powerplant, and will sorely miss that sound in this game. Not that the sound is bad, but it could have been much better. However, Starsky & Hutch’s dialogue more than makes up for this oversight. They constantly give each other kudos for good shots and driving, and complain when the skills aren’t up to par. Also, when driving around, Starsky makes a lot of comments whenever you pass by a lady or a fast-food joint.

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/starskyandhutch/ss04_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]My only major issues with this game were the few situations where you could get completely lost or stuck. During one escort mission I would occasionally foul up a jump which landed me on a completely different freeway with no possible way to get back to protecting the car I was following. I also got turned sideways a few times in a narrow alleyway, and found it impossible to straighten out. Both of these were more or less avoidable once you really learn the levels, and you can always restart a mission, so I would say they are really only minor issues, but it still sucks to be taken completely out of a mission you were just cleaning house on.

Overall I’d have to say this is one of the best bargain games I have ever picked up, and I am definitely enjoying more than many games I have payed $50 for recently. I would warn anyone who is interested that you really need a steering wheel to get the most out of this game. The PS2 and Xbox versions both apparently support light guns, which sounds like potential for a lot of fun if you have a light gun, a steering wheel, and a friend who likes car chases. Even if you never watched Starsky & Hutch before you should give this game a try (it’s usually only $10), and you should also try to watch the show, now that it’s out on DVD.

Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga

April 27, 2004

Game Boy Advance / Reviews / by Joe Teed Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/mandlsuperstarsaga/cover.jpg[/floatleft]Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga is the first RPG I have played in over a year, and it does not disappoint. The whole game is endowed with enormous amounts of personality and humor that draw you into the story, and the battle system is much more interactive than the traditional “pick things out of a menu” style of play used in so many RPGs. Despite a few minor complaints, I would say this game is the most fun I have had with the Gameboy Advance yet.

Anyone who has played the original Super Mario RPG will instantly see what the writers behind Mario & Luigi were aiming for. The game acts as a tribute to past Mario games, filled with cameos by major players, and appearances by most traditional Mario enemies. The Beanbean kingdom, where the game takes place, has it’s own wonderful look and feel, but the high points for me were the appearance of major and minor players from past Mario Games.

The environments are typical of RPGs, but with some emphasis on jumping puzzles. You are limited in where you can go by the power ups and “Bros. Powers” you have learned. These Bros. Powers range from Mario jumping on Luigi’s shoulders to make a long distance spinning jump to the brothers hitting each other with hammers and lighting each other on fire to produce various effects. I’m glad to know that so many of life’s problems can be solved by hitting one’s siblings over the head with a hammer.

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/mandlsuperstarsaga/ss02_thumb.jpg[/floatright]The combat system will also be familiar to those who played Super Mario RPG. Instead of simply choosing a command for your character to perform and sitting back to enjoy the show, you must tap or hold buttons at the right times to make a perfect attack or to defend yourself. Properly timed and executed defense can make a big difference in a fight. You can even affect the opening of a battle based on how you interact with enemies in the overworld screens. For example, jumping onto an overworld enemy causes all of the enemies to take damage as you enter the battle screen, and hitting one with a hammer stuns them for a round. These elements add a level of interactivity that is often lacking in turn-based RPGs.

The “Bros. Attacks” are the game’s equivalent of magic. They involve both characters using a series of skills together to cause lots of damage and other effects to an enemy. They involve a sequence of properly timed button presses. These can either be displayed for you, or you can run the technique in slow-motion, or you can try to do it all from memory without the aid of slow-mo or on-screen hints. The less hints you use, the more powerful these are. The moves are hilarious looking, but too difficult to learn in contrast with the rest of the game, so I didn’t use them very often.

The graphics and design for this game were incredible. Everything was very colorful and filled with personality. Mixed with the writing, it really brought the whole idea of the Mario world to life. Every character had a few excellent yet fairly simple animations to help you feel their misery and elation as the game progressed. The sounds that matched every animation were also simple yet amazingly appropriate. Overall I felt that this game did an even better job of portraying the characters and world than Super Mario RPG did.

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/mandlsuperstarsaga/ss03_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]I did have one minor complaint about the game. Like many modern games, Mario & Luigi only allows you to save at specific save spots. This worked fine in Super Mario RPG, but Mario & Luigi is a portable game. This means you might be playing it in a situation where the game must be turned off at any time, losing all data since the last save. While save points were usually fairly common, the game would have benefited from an extra temporary save that is deleted when it is used, but is always available. Super Mario Advance 4 has this feature, and more games should start using this method.

The effective use of Mario nostalgia, more interactive battle techniques, and excellent graphics and sound design helped give this game a level of personality and fun that is lacking in many games out today. Anyone who is a fan of Mario or RPGs owes it to themselves to give this game a try. Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga is definitely a worthy successor to Super Mario RPG, and we can only hope that more games like this will appear in the future.

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