That's right! I'm going to review a game based on one of my all-time favorite LarryBoy movies: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple. I know there are two versions of the game: one for the Gameboy Advance, and one for Playstation 2. Since I didn't have a Playstation, I had to settle for the Gameboy version.
How is it? Um... The graphics aren't as good as the ones in the Playstation version. The game has everything to do with the movie, but had to change the premise for the sake of making the story playable as a game.
Now, I haven't played this game in years. But I'm pretty good at relearning video game strategies and content. So let's get started!
Opening (Title Screen/Main Menu)
So the video game starts with the movie's title card.
-Here, it's pretty subtle. It has the movie's likeness. But that's not what concerned me.
Not only does the title card greet you, but also the music.
-Sure, it's the tune from the song "Rock On, LarryBoy," but listen to how it's being played. It kinda sounds like video game music of the 80s and 90s. Trying to sound retro?
Start of Game Play:
So we get some dialogue at the beginning of the game...
-(pause) Yeah, instead of having voice-acting, we get dialogue boxes with profile pics of the characters.
Anyway, in the first level, you spend the majority of it learning the controls, which is tolerable.
-(pause) By the way, LarryBoy is a size of a bean in this game? Why not make some bigger? But don't worry; the PS2 version makes up for that.
-And henchmen characters that are new and... NOT from the movie. Was Curly the Worm too complicated to make as an opponent that our hero would encounter in this game?
Anyway, most of what you'll be doing in each level is climbing up and down ladders, moving levers, jumping onto moving platforms, and avoiding bad guys.
-First of all, the bad guys in this game are a piece of work. One example is the onions. The dang onions! If you happen to run into these guys, they would literally slow LarryBoy down momentarily (and they even show you, in a time gauge, how long you're infected by the bad guy's spell, until you're back to normal). This is really bad when you find yourself cornered by a wall or something, so it would be difficult to escape an onion attack.
Another example is the chili peppers. If you run into these guys, it would reverse the operation of the control momentarily. In other words, the left control on the Gameboy would momentarily act as the right control, and visa versa; the up control would momentarily work as the down control, and visa versa... Confusing, right? So stay away from the chili peppers.
But the game makes up for it by throwing in silver LarryBoy booster-thingys that you would find during gameplay, which would give you immunity for a short period of time.
-Second, there's a time limit in each level (excluding the piano bonus levels).
Why does there have to be a time limit when there are opponents that would overwhelm you with either the slowing down and the reversal of controls? And look at how much time they give you in each level! Three minutes? You have to complete the level in under three minutes? But that's okay. They make up for that by tossing time boosters every now and then during gameplay.
At the end of each level, you have LarryBoy collect a green ticket.
-Not that the tickets mean anything in this game, except that collecting them allows you to advance to the next level. Who designed it like that? Why not replace ticket-collecting with walking through portals? Going through portals was one of the coolest things from the movie!
Scenarios:
There are a total of 5 scenarios (worlds) in this game, based on the character that the Bad Apple decides to tempt: a construction site, a funhouse, inside a video game controller, a hotel, and the chocolate room.
-Why do I get the feeling that only 3 out of the 5 scenarios listed are related to the movie more so than the other two?
(The construction site and the hotel scenarios are NOT related to the movie.)
-And for that matter, Junior Asparagus and Bob the Tomato have temptations? (Sarcasm: Yeah, remember THOSE from the movie?) And they both range from playing basketball obsessively to ordering room service (food) obsessively.
Near the end of each world, you have to rush to the rescue to save the tempted from temptation (Bad Apple) by dodging traps and playing boss battles that are no different than the classic air-hockey-like game that is basically... an air-hockey-like game.
I'm not kidding. That's what to expect in each boss battle, is the same format with the same mission (saving someone from the bad guy).
So how is the game? Well... I really want to try my hand on the PS2 version.
I mean, I'll always go back to the Gameboy version. However, as far as graphics and story go, I think the PS2 version looks more promising: with the beautiful 3D-animated graphics, the out-of-this-world scenarios, and the use of voice-acting, which is really impressive.
...
Now, if only I had a PS2 and a copy of the PS2 version of this video game... That would be something.
Whatsoever Critic
Source: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple video game (Gameboy Advance version)
Courtesy: Crave Entertainment
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