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> Results: Scaler
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Bobby's a boy whose nose for trouble and his thing for lizards got him in for a little more than he bargained for. He's stumbled into his crazy next-door-neighbor's plot to take all the lizards from earth and turn them into his mutant army with the help of lizards from another dimension. Bobby ends up taken to that other dimension and in the process is transformed into a lizard himself. It's up to him and his newfound lizard abilities to retrieve the stolen lizard eggs and stop this fiendish plot. The story is right out of the head of a ten year old boy. If you're looking for a deep and moving plot you took a wrong turn at Alberqeque. That's okay. Sometimes you're not looking for War and Peace here.
The game consists of 15 levels of platforming. Jumps, moving platforms, insanely tall pillars that sprout of nothing for no reason. You know the drill. To make it more interesting, Bobby has some very cool options for getting from place to place. There are areas where he climbs on ceilings and walls, you know, like a lizard. Other games do this but here they actually change the camera perspective so the world is upside down, too, which makes it a little more of a cool experience. He also has parts of several levels where he rail-grinds his way around, with these thorny/leafy things to avoid or catch.  The worlds are gorgeous, and the levels themselves are very well designed. There's a nice mix of skills required to get through each level, and it didn't feel cookie-cutter all the way through. There's usually two paths to get through each level, and they only look impossible. There are false paths and hidden stuff to find, so the map really does come in handy. Scaler has to fight his way through the levels, too. And here he's amply armed. From the get-go he has his claws for slashing up close, and his tongue for dealing discipline at a distance. As you play you can build up static electricity to charge up a sort of lightning attack for area-of-effect damage. But then it gets even cooler! He actually transforms into five different forms, based on the needs of the particular level. There's a flyer which comes in handy, but my personal favorite was the Bakudan. He's a sort of cuter, pudgier version of Scaler but he has big glowing blue bombs he can plant to clear obstacles or deal with stationary enemies, or he can use them to go Bowling-for-Monsters.  In many ways, this game stands out specifically because it doesn't. In so many of these games you end up cursing clipping problems and various other graphical or code panylines. None of that here. The camera didn't spend time in the walls or staring at you from 30,000 feet like some games I could mention even on the rail-grinding areas. The controls are complex enough to give you something to have to learn, but easy enough that anyone can get the job done. The voices and dialog are pretty good, and the amibient sounds are unobtrusive. Solid and clean all the way through. All in all, pretty impressive for a budget title. It's platforming for the kids that grown-ups might enjoy, too. 
For $20 brand new I say go for it, with just a couple caveats. The difficulty levels can be very uneven. At some points, you'll want to throw the controller at your TV. The only thing that gets you through them is repetition and learning the timing. In others you'll sail through without touching the rim. This can really frustrate younger children. That's the reason for the age recommendation - with the real littles they just don't have the coordination to get through some of the tough spots. This game is EXCELLENT for cooperation between siblings. The older kids/grown ups can deal with the harsh spots, and the littles can help slosh around after those lizard eggs and other collectible stuff.
Also, the lead boy/lizard has a rather smart mouth on him. The story points about his dad raised an eyebrow or two. And for those of us with grossness issues - the power-up animation is a large winged lizard-thingy spitting glowy stuff all over you. The kids were fine with it but it kind of yakked me. Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Scaler |
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