Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Score: 60% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: THQ Developer: 3d6 Games Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Platformer
Graphics & Sound: At first glance, Atlantis really isn't pretty and if it weren't for the higher resolution, it could fool you into thinking it's a GBC game. The environments are sparse, and tend to look the same, kind of like those old Scooby-Doo cartoons where the characters run down the hall, and you see that same desk or flowerpot in the background every three feet. The strange thing is, just as you are about to write off the graphics as being average, a strange thing begins to happen - you see the details. Everything has a nice, stylish look to it - from the plumes of smoke coming from grates, to pieces of rock falling from crumbling floors, to sparks flying from wires and even the fire. This attention to detail carries over nicely into the animations of everything on the screen and helps to add some personality to the game. As you come across different characters from the movie, each has a certain charm that shows their personality of the game. Milo shows his aloofness and Kida shows certain wildness in her movements, and so on for each of the main characters from the movie. Too bad the big picture couldn't have been as good as the small one. Sound is done well, but it can get annoying at times. The effects are, like everything else, sparse but used nicely, but the music is another story. Just think of the Survivor theme song on an endless loop as played by your little brother's Casio keyboard and you have a good idea of the game's soundtrack. It's okay, and at times fits the mood perfectly, but it just gets annoying after hearing that 'chanting' over and over again.
Gameplay: Atlantis: The Lost Empire follows the exploits of Milo Thatch and his crew on their expedition to find the lost city of Atlantis. The plot of the movie is followed about as well as you could expect, with a few alterations to fit the game, but it's nothing totally unexpected for a movie based game. Having reviewed the GBC version of Atlantis, I was expecting the same game, only prettier. Boy was I wrong! This version takes an action based approach, which is completely different from the GBC version, which is more puzzle based. Even as I'm writing this, I'm still not sure how I feel about the GBA version. It's a fun platformer, but the puzzle-based version just seemed to fit the mood of the movie a little more. You guide Milo through ten levels, each consisting of vastly different goals, which is something I really liked. For example, one level will have you trying to evacuate 15 crew members from the sinking sub, while in another you navigate caves using the runes on the wall as your only guide. I found this very refreshing considering how easy it would have been to just have ten 'point A to point B' missions. As a little something extra for the 'collection' junkies, you can also collect gems and 'runes' in each level in order to unlock a few surprises (don't ask me what they are though, I'm still trying to find them myself). Other than the action game approach, my other big disappointment was that you could only use Milo. To me, one of the most entertaining parts of the GBC game was that you could use the different members of the crew and complete tasks according to their special skills. Unfortunately, since the game takes a one man Indiana Jones type approach to things, I didn't have as much fun.
Difficulty: Except for about two levels, Atlantis is an easy game, which fits the younger, target audience nicely. Veteran gamers, however, will find it a breeze and could probably beat it in at least one sitting. The only real difficulty I had was with the layout of some of the levels. While they never get as confusing as those found in Men in Black, they are also a long way from being intuitive to navigate. I often found myself wandering back to the beginning of levels due to difficulty finding the entrances (such as pipes I had to slide down) to other areas of the level. You are given a password at the end of each level, which will help younger players out in the few difficult levels, but vets will probably end up not even using them.
Game Mechanics: Like the rest of the game, the control of Atlantis is nice, but lacking. Guiding Milo through his adventure is easy, and uses the same set up as most side-scrolling platformers. Just think of the control scheme for Mario Advance and you have the basic layout. However, I had problems with the responsiveness. Anyone who has ever played a platformer will tell you that preciseness is the key for making some jumps, and Atlantis has its fair share of them. The problem is that everything has a loose feel, which will cause you to die many times because Milo stops just a second too late. It's not bad enough to make things unplayable, and is something that players will get used to by the second mission, but it's also something they shouldn't have to get used to in the first place. Die hard Disney fans, or Parents looking for good, non-violent games for young children would do well in giving Atlantis a look, but anyone else may want to think twice before signing up for this expedition.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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