At first thought, if there is any game fitting to me, it’s
The Grinch. Many, many times I have been called a ‘grinch.’ Of course, it’s the perfect game for a person with a heart the size of a pea and as hard as a rock. Hey, maybe the game will even cause my heart to grow in size. After all, who can resist the Who’s? Unfortunately, all of these ideas faded away as I played the game. I hate to be hard on this, but the game was just no fun for me. It’s not Konami’s fault; the game just has all the elements that I don’t like in games. The game is simple, short, and just no fun. The controls are bad, the camera angles take a lot of getting used to, and the appeal is nonexistent.
Basically, you play as the Grinch (and his dog). Christmas is on the way. The Grinch has lots of gadgets he can use to ruin the festive holiday for the Who’s. Unfortunately, all of the plans for the gadgets have been scattered all throughout Whoville. You get to find the plans, put them together, and create the gadgets. The Grinch offers four levels of 3D adventure. You have set objectives for each level.
The game consist of sitting on Christmas presents, running away from kids, and finding the scattered pieces of paper. Once you complete a gadget, you can use it, which does offer some excitement. Not enough – the game is still no fun. The only functions that you really have are move, jump, ‘pancake’ (sit on stuff), bad breath, and using gadgets. Later on, you can use costumes and stuff, but in all, there’s not a lot to it. You lose the game when your ‘annoy’ meter fills up. I can respect that; who wouldn’t get annoyed to death by the Who’s and the ever rhyming narrator?
The game has a ‘Tomb Raider’ style control. There is also a revolving camera. These two items in conjunction make the game very difficult to control. Using a joystick helps, but it still takes some getting used to. The game is reminescent of a 2D platform in 3D. It’s kinda like the old Toejam and Earl game, minus the fun.
