| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
I considered littering the introduction to this review with all sorts of Australian quips and catch phrases. Since I only know "Gﾒday mate" and "Thatﾒs not a knife..." I decided against it. The Tasmanian Tiger may be extinct, but this video game tiger is making a comeback! Tyﾒs modern day Australian world is populated by walking, talking ﾑDown Underﾒ critters like koalas and kangaroos. One fateful day, Tyﾒs arch-nemesis Boss Cass escapes from prison, ready to wreak havoc on the Outback once again with his army of frilled lizards. Ty and his friends form the Bush Rescue Agency hoping to foil Boss Cassﾒ plans for good. Itﾒs up to Ty to save the day!  Youﾒll explore the Outback as Ty in typical 3-D platformer fashion. But this isnﾒt a primitive world youﾒre in, no sir. Youﾒll explore and buy items in towns, get briefings and train at the Bush Rescue HQ, and drive along stretches of roads to your next hop-and-bop destination. The gameplay is mission-based, meaning youﾒll receive a task from HQ (usually something along the lines of ﾑgo from point A to B,ﾒ or ﾑdefeat all the enemies in the area.ﾒ). Unfortunately, they really donﾒt give you very many clues to where you need to go for your missions so youﾒll do a lot of aimless wandering around for a while, which can get tedious and boring. Thereﾒs a map, but itﾒs not always helpful. Ty can do all the things a typical 3-D platformer hero does. Run, jump, climb, glide, grind on rails, etc. He battles enemies close range with his fearsome bite, and for faraway foes he throws boomerangs like Link in The Legend of Zelda. Thereﾒs a shop in town where you can buy different kinds of ﾑrangs with their own specific purposes. The fire boomerang melts blocks of ice, the frost boomerang freezes water, and the ﾑinfrarangﾒ lets you see invisible enemies. Buy them with the opals you collect scattered around the levels. There are so many boomerangs to buy and items to collect that the instruction booklet doesnﾒt even list them all! They encourage players instead to visit the official Web site to see all the items and boomerangs and what they do. Kind of cheap if you ask me. To spice up the gameplay, some levels let Ty climb inside a mech for extra power. The mechs are called "Bunyips" (donﾒt ask) and there are many different kinds. Some let you punch through walls. Others let you explore underwater among other things. There are also vehicles that you can climb into like four-wheelers and helicopters. Play control for all Tyﾒs actions is fairly responsive, and they do a good job explaining the controls during gameplay for each action and vehicle you try out. The developers really reflect the ﾑDown Underﾒ theme in Ty 2 with the graphics and sound. You really feel like youﾒre exploring a desert Outback fantasy wilderness, and all the characters speak with Australian accents. The music even has plenty of Australian instruments wailing in the background. I half expected Steve Irwin to hop out of the game at any moment. Unfortunately there are camera angle problems, and Tyﾒs jumps feel floaty sometimes. Also, Iﾒve never played the first Ty the Tasmanian Tiger game, so I donﾒt know if the sequel improves anything in any way. However, the game is only 20 bucks, and as an added bonus there is a mini-game two player kart racer with multiple tracks, characters, power-ups, and speed boosts. With a few tweaks here and there, the kart racer could survive as a stand alone game. Players who have already done everything a bandicoot, Italian plumber, and blue hedgehog can do will probably tire of Ty 2ﾒs cookie cutter design. But for only 20 bucks, Ty 2 is a pretty OK way to scratch the 3-D platformer itch. Kid Factor: Kids havenﾒt been around long enough to be jaded by me-too 3-D platformers, so theyﾒll probably think Ty 2 is GREAT! Theyﾒll love the characters and gameplay, but some may get bored with all the aimless wandering, and maybe get frustrated at the camera angles. The challenge isnﾒt overly frustrating, though. Only mild cartoon violence here, and the included kart mini-game is a nice bonus that kids will like, too. Not bad for 20 bucks!  Reviewer Recommended Ages: 8+ Genre: 3-D platformer ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Reviewer: Cary Woodham Producer: EA Games Developer: Krome Software 
Kids havenﾒt been around long enough to be jaded by me-too 3-D platformers, so theyﾒll probably think Ty 2 is GREAT! Theyﾒll love the characters and gameplay, but some may get bored with all the aimless wandering, and maybe get frustrated at the camera angles. The challenge isnﾒt overly frustrating, though. Only mild cartoon violence here, and the included kart mini-game is a nice bonus that kids will like, too. Not bad for 20 bucks!
Kid Factor by Cary Woodham
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
