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The Problem with Licensed Games: Difference between revisions

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The Problem with Licensed Games (view source)

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* ''[[The Polar Express]]'', a multi-platform Adventure game based on the hit movie. The graphics are okay for the time, nothing phenomenal and they don't reach [[Uncanny Valley]] like the film. The gameplay features various [[Unexpected Genre Change]]s, though they're poorly played out. The voice acting for some of the characters isn't so great either. The worst part of the game has to be the timespan; it can be beaten within a few hours or less, one sitting and it makes you feel you're missing out.
* How in the world could someone have messed up a ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' video game? With a cartoon that has such an awesome hero with equally-awesome enemies and settings, a video game adaptation should have been easy, but ''[[Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku]]'' (released in 2004 for [[Playstation|Playstation 2]] and [[GameCube]]) was anything but. Mary Jane Irwin of [[IGN]] criticized the game for its annoying combat system, "uninteresting" story, and [[It's Easy, So It Sucks| lack of any real challenge]]. The visuals were the worst part; her review noting that "Everything is incredibly angular and the only way to describe it is awful. It's just sad that in no way was the show's incredible presentation translated into the videogame." [[GameSpot]]'s Alex Navarro called it "utterly forgettable" and said, "its lack of depth, style, or technical polish essentially ruins whatever chance it ever could have had to appeal to anyone outside of the most diehard of Samurai Jack fans". Possibly the only good part was the score, but all-in-all, Jack's video game debut was a failure.
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage]]'' At least ''Chemical X-Straction'' was no worse than other stuff released for those systems in 2021, but this game - which was indeed released for ''[[PlaystationPlayStation 2]]'' and ''[[GameCube]]'' - didn’t have that excuse. First off, the plot actually seems interesting; narcissistic arch-villain Mojo Jojo wants to run for mayor, and plans to brainwash the citizens of Townsville into voting for him. His brainwashing device attracts the attention of the Pickloids, alien [[Plant Aliens| pickle-people]] who [[Alien Invasion| invade and start abducting citizens]]. With giant jars. So, the three heroines have to fly in to save the day. Now, on the plus side, this sort of plot seems right up the cartoon's alley, the dialogue in the cutscenes are kind of funny, and [[Parental Bonus| it even has some political satire thrown in]]. Sadly, however, there's only about seven minutes of cutscenes total, and the gameplay is a different story. Townsville looks pretty… dull, and the missions you have to go on are repetitive. You have the Girls fly around, beat up some mooks, then beat up the boss, then do the same thing again and again. The missions are short, as is the whole game. The fights have little to no strategy; you punch, kick, and use the Girls’ laser-vision, and there are no other moves to gain or unlock. The targeting system is pretty bad, made worse by an equally bad camera that often makes it hard to see what you’re aiming at. Finally, there are glitches that sometimes cause the Girls to get stuck on an object or between two or more objects, often enemies you’re trying to fight. And while the dialogue of those cutscenes is funny, the visuals and animation are ugly and crude, with [[Sickly Green Glow| far too much emphasis on the color green]], and while the music is okay, the sound effects are poor.
 
== Seventh Generation (2006-Present) ==
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