Yes, something that actually resembles content!
As with all things I like a fair amount, I am going to squee enthusiastically about this, although I hope that everyone will break with tradition and believe me on this, because it's true. :p
The Nightmare Before Christmas game! It's REALLY GOOD!! ^_____^ Having spent most of my week playing Oogie's Revenge, to the distraction of the residents of the house, and at huge inconvenience to Andrew, who I thank from the coffee dregs of my heart for lending me his PS2 and the game, I can categorically say that I love it! (That was an interesting sentence construction, Katy...) This probably doesn't surprise anyone, given that I own more Jack Skellington merchandise and have watched the film more times than is healthy. But on the other hand, if they had done it wrong this would have made it very easy for me to get nit-picky. ^__^
But they didn't! I have had absolute spasms of glee over how wonderfully they recreated Halloween Town because it is an almost faultless copy of the film version, with the obvious fleshing out for gameplay's sake, of course. It doesn't count as much of a spoiler to say they did a brilliant job on Christmas Town too (if you watch the opening video you'll see you get to go to Christmas Town eventually, so I'm not counting that as a spoiler :p). The game mainly takes place in Halloween town, as you might expect, but there are a few other stages that really make it interesting. The Oogie-Boogie-related levels have the fantastic Cajun-in-neon feeling about them, complete with all the accoutrements of Oogie's casino. My favourite levels, though, are the ones set in the Hinterlands (where the Holiday Doors are, if you remember the start of the film). There's just something really pretty about these levels: they look like someone has animated them in a sketchbook in pencil, with cross-hatched shading and wavey contour lines on the ground. It's incredibly hard to describe, but very *very* pretty. I want somewhere like that to live in. o_0
So the graphics are top, possibly even a new high in my experience of PS2 graphics. They captured the stop motion feeling perfectly. Even Jack's distinctive gait is exactly how it should be. But the gameplay is also great - it's Capcom hack 'n' snot fun! Soul Robbers would be the most useful things in the world if they were real. The Soul Robber, of course, being the big green snot whip that Jack flings around and sticks on things. (Note: Snot whip not actually made of snot.) You do actually get two other modes to play in as well as Soul Robber: Pumpkin King and Santa, both of which are also great fun, but not quite as brilliant as snot whipping.
So have I used every superlative I know yet? This game is just *fantastic*. There are no two ways about it. I salute Capcom for making such a smashing piece of gaming. Yes it bears more than a passing resemblance to Devil May Cry, but so what? Devil May Cry is a great game. It has so many little interesting touches - like the rythmn games at the end of the boss fights for one! - that it almost outdoes DMC at its own game. They've also done the near-impossible by making a good sequel to the film that actually stays in the spirit of the original, the reworkings of the soundtrack being one area that deserves particular merit. There is some original music in it, but it's mainly instrumental pieces, the rest being reworded versions of songs from the film. Which is great as far as I'm concerned because I love the film's songs. I *really* want the soundtrack to the game as soon as it comes out, I can say that now. ^___^
I know this game hasn't done incredibly well in Japan, which is somewhat surprising and a great shame, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will do very good things in America, where the Jack Skellington franchise sells insane amounts of merchandise (much to Katy's pleasure). And when it comes out in the UK, everyone who owns a Playstation 2 should buy it. Yes you should. ^____^
Posted by Katyjag at November 8, 2004 5:09 PM