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Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: MediEvil: Resurrection

MediEvil: Resurrection
by Cary Woodham
October 24, 2005

Scare yourself silly with this PSP remake.

Reviewed for PSP.

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Scroll down for our Kid Factor.

GamerDad Seal Of Approval - 10+.  Click to learn more about our review seal. In the medieval land of Gallowmere, the king's wizard Zarok was banished for performing dark magic. The evil wizard created a magical army to overthrow the kingdom for payback. Led by Sir Daniel Fortesque, the good king's army defeated the wizard. Sir Dan fell in battle, but was remembered as a hero.

But that's not what REALLY happened...

The history books and minstrel songs may have regarded Sir Dan as a hero, but in actuality he was a coward, pretending to bend down and tie his boot laces while the first wave of the king's army rushed into battle. And sadly, as he bent down he was first to die in the initial wave of enemy arrows. One hundred years have passed, and now Zarok has somehow returned. Using evil magic, he steals souls to revive the dead and creates an army of zombies and undead to take over Gallowmere once more. But the evil wizard mistakenly revives Sir Dan as well. He's nothing now but a skeleton without an eye and a lower jawbone. With a genie living in his empty cranium, can Sir Dan muster up enough ムguts' to fight off Zarok once more and redeem himself as the true hero of Gallowmere?

MediEvil: Resurrection for PSP is actually a remake of a PSOne title. But the graphics and sound have been updated so much and so well that it seems like a totally new game. Guide Sir Dan on a 3-D quest through spooky graveyards and haunted forests, slashing at skeletons, zombies, and other undead warriors along the way. Find talking gargoyle statues and they give you life vials to keep you in the realm of the living and they also repair your weaponsラfor a fee, of course.


Hidden in every level is a magic chalice. This is important for Sir Dan to find, because if he collects it and kills enough undead to fill the chalice with souls, at the end of the level he'll be able to enter the Hall of Heroes. Brave warriors who have fallen in battle get to spend the rest of eternity in the Hall of Heroes. Each time you fill up a chalice with souls, you can talk with one of the heroes and they give you a special weapon, like a crossbow or a war hammer.

Even though it's a remake, the graphics have been updated so much for the PSP that it looks totally new. Graves and spooks and skeletons all look frightfully good on the bright PSP screen, and nothing is too dark to see, even though you're traveling through some creepy areas. Music is also eerily atmospheric, and the voice acting is spot onラa rarity in video games these days. Despite being a game starring the undead, MediEvil is full of chuckle-worthy humor. Since Sir Dan doesn't have a lower jaw, he can only speak in muffled mumbles (make sure to turn on the subtitles in the option screen so you can tell what he is saying). And the genie that has taken up residence in Dan's head constantly spews forth comedic comments, and the occasional gameplay hint. Simply moving Dan around is funny as well. When he does a spinning slash attack, his upper body will spin around and around while his legs stay still. And if Sir Dan doesn't have a sword to wield, he'll just detach one of his bony arms and club baddies with it. Aside from the mouthy genie, they added new mini-games and wireless multiplayer challenges to this remake.

If there is any problems with MediEvil: Resurrection, it's that the camera angles can veer off in a direction that makes it hard to see what Sir Dan is fighting. Also, the framerate can get distractingly choppy and blurry. Maneuvering Dan around with the nubby PSP analog stick isn't as responsive as a regular controller either. Still, this is a bright spot in a frightfully dark and empty collection of recent PSP releases.

Click to learn more about GamerDad's Kid Factor review section. Even though the game is rated T for Teen and features skeletons and zombies a-plenty, only the very young might be frightened by all the spooky shenanigans. And very young players probably shouldn't be messing with the PSP anyway. Kids who are used to silly scares like Scooby Doo and The Nightmare Before Christmas won't have any problems with this game. There is violence since Sir Dan slashes and clubs at the undead with all manner of medieval weaponry, but there is no blood. Older kids and preteens and up should be OK with MediEvil.

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Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: MediEvil: Resurrection
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Game Info:
Platform(s):
PSP

ESRB rating:
T - Teen

Score:




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