37 - The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage (PS2)

Genre: Action adventure
Rating: E
Developer: VIS Entertainment
Publisher: Bam Entertainment
Platform: PS2 (Also: GC)
Release date: 2002

I've probably watched The Powerpuff Girls twice in my life. For one, they weren't exactly part of my "time", and secondly, I didn't have Cartoon Network for a damn long time. For some reason, this surprises the hell out of my younger friends, as if cable is something necessary. Either way, without watching the show I know enough about it and decided to have a night playing children's games.

While this game was probably designed for a young audience, it's surprisingly hard. There's not a lot of thought put into it or puzzles or anything... it's just designed with an annoying button layout and finicky controls. So really, it was the developers who made this game a lot harder to play than it should be. I lost within the first minute or so because I couldn't gather what the game wanted me to do.

Because I felt my gamer cred slipping away by losing so quickly in a cartoon-based game I forced myself to play it more. I beat the first episode and then went on to the second. The second episode had to do with space pickles taking control of the citizens of Townsville. Anyway, all was going pretty well and I figured out a good way to cheat the game but then there was this horrible mission of protecting a vehicle for an extended period of time. I always hate these kinds of missions so when I lost at that one I figured that was enough for the game.

Overall, it's not a very good game at all but what can you do? I thought the idea of having the game play out in a couple episodes was cool, although it could have just been one extended episode. Beating smaller complete stories is probably a lot of fun for kids though and does give a sense of accomplishment. Also of note, every time I go to write Powerpuff Girls I keep wanting to write "Powerful Girls". It makes me feel like I'm an old fogey calling Pokemon "Pogeymans".

Would I play again? No.

8 - Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums

Genre: Action, platformer
Rating:  E for Everyone
Developer: Artificial Mind
Publisher: Bam Entertainment
System: PS2 (Also: GC, Xbox)
Release Date: 2004

Carmen Sandiego has always been a weird enigma in my gaming life. I always wanted to love the series but found myself completely unable to play it. When it was in vogue I was but a young child who had no real knowledge of the world I inhabited. It was nearly impossible to play but damn if I weren't captivated by the title character of Carmen.

So this game for PS2 is surprisingly far from the roots. While your characters provide you with lots of information about the level you traverse, the actual gameplay involves little to no detective work. It's just a platformer game at heart for kids. I really wish the game had maintained the old style of playing, but that probably wouldn't capture the attention of today's children.

There's a hint of stealth gameplay but it's a tiny hint. The enemies are robots who will shoot at you if you get in their sights. However, if you hide behind anything they will not give chase or remain in an alert state. They'll simply turn back around and do what they had been prior to your arrival. As such, this is a terribly forgiving stealth system, if it is even counted as one.

I don't think I actually died in this game. The only reason I pulled it out was because it was boring. Chasing a notorious thief is supposed to be exciting but it all felt like a chore. The graphics and movement of characters was very nicely done. Despite that though, there was no good reason to continue playing and in fact it seemed I would have to force myself to die for it to actually happen.

Would I play again? Perhaps (it's an easy game to beat).