Shrek Superslam
Shrek and company look to take out the trash.
Tags: Shrek Superslam Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on Dec 16th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shrek Superslam (title page) | 1 - 4 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Fighting | No | ||
The comparisons between the two are unavoidable, as Shrek Superslam attempts to invade your Xbox and PS2 with a large roster of characters and fast, free-for-all, beat-em up action almost identical to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. titles. Shrek’s humorous presentation and list of notable characters from the franchise are a treat, but the gameplay is a bit too shallow and technical difficulties are all too frequent to be overlooked.
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The game’s story, much in the light-hearted spirit of the films, tells several tall tales in the interest of entertaining company. You see, Donkey has invited the gang over to his house to catch some television, but the Dronkeys (remember, he marries a Dragon in the movies) just won’t go to bed. So in order to get the little rascals to sleep, Shrek, Donkey, and the others make up some outlandish stories. Each of these stories sets up the premise for each of these bouts and during the single player campaign, some of the challenges.
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While the single-player storyline is ridiculously short, the challenges help to add some variety to the constant emphasis on over-the-top combat and offer the meat of the replay value. These challenges, unique every last one of them, will ask you to do certain things in battle like slam more enemies then you get slammed or to avoid being hit for a certain amount of time. The challenges are fun and varied, but like the main story mode, they don’t last long.
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The action itself, along with the controls, are fairly serviceable. The camera angle and environments are very reminiscent of the Power Stone titles that graced the Dreamcast, while performing the Superslams the game uses for its name is more combo-based like Smash Bros. The environments themselves are destructable and ripped right out of the Shrek universe, with such locales as Shrek’s swamp and the Fairy Godmother’s chambers. The interactivity of each environment also adds some charm to the title.
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Differences between the Xbox and PS2 titles mainly fall down to loading times and framerates. On the Xbox version, with 4 players going at it at once, the game seldomly skips a beat, keeping the game running at optimum speed. On the PS2, this isn’t the case, as the game will often glitch and slow during more ferocious scenes. Loading times also suffer on the PS2 as they are noticably longer than on Microsoft’s console. The visuals on both versions look crisp, however, and there is little difference between the two.
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Shrek Superslam is pretty much total fan service and clearly aimed at younger audiences, but this doesn’t mean dad or mom won’t have a bit of fun playing with little Timmy or Tina. With some humorous cutscenes, excellent voicework (impressionists, however), and some fun, cartoonish mayhem, Shrek Superslam may not hold a whole ton of replay value, but for the price and the Shrekfan in your life, it’s a title that deserves some definite recognition, especially with the upcoming holiday.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Funny cutscenes and premise + Controls are serviceable + Destructible environments + Good impressionist voice overs |
6.8 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Story mode can be beaten in under an hour - Challenges don't last as long as they should, considering how many of them there are - PS2 version has a tendency to lock up a bit when the screen is full of action |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| If you know someone who's in love with Shrek, they'll enjoy this. Otherwise, you might as well play Power Stone or Smash Bros. | |
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Tags: Shrek Superslam
Posted by David Hinkle on Dec 16th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
