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IGN Review of Shrek Superslam
For portable gamers, the Shrek franchise has never been one to stand out as any form of excellence. In fact, On GBA and Game Boy Color alone there are more than 10 products spanning only two movies, none of which have received exemplary ratings. The franchise as a whole is attempting to overstay its welcome in every way, and it shows. While the quality has gone up over the years, the Shrek license is notorious for its sub-par content. Swamp Kart Speedway and Fairytale Freakdown immediately come to mind as some of the worst gameplay in a licensed product to date. While the DS version of Shrek SuperSlam can't be grouped with the attempts mentioned above, only younger gamers that are obsessed with all things Shrek will be able to tolerate the clunky gameplay and poor visual presentation for very long. Shrek SuperSlam may not be entirely void of entertainment, but its flaws far outweigh its strengths.
The best explanation for the SuperSlam design is to combine the 3D fighting style of Power Stone with the character-based design of Super Smash Bros. Gameplay relies heavily on attacking characters in hopes of pulling off that one perfect combo, known as a SuperSlam. The title screen opens with in-game sequences of the cast in action. While it is great to see characters like the Gingy and Donkey running around and kicking the crap out of Prince Charming, a huge flaw in the execution can also be seen before ever entering the game: animations don't transition well, and what could have been a great showcase for the game's opening sequence turns out to be the first of many flaws.
When booting up SuperSlam, players can chose from a variety of gameplay modes, many of which are centered around the 3D free-roaming engine. In story mode, players will follow one main adventure, but have the option of using different characters as the events allow. The Mega Challenge option encompasses over 30 mini-games, most of which need to be unlocked in the main mode first. A training area is also included for newcomers, and if players happen to find other owners of the game, multi-cart battle is also an additional play mode.
Rather than going the same route as the GBA game, which is all 2D and plays a lot like a vs. mode of Final Fight or Double Dragon, Shrek SuperSlam for DS went full 3D like the console versions. Though the gameplay translates relatively well on the small screen, the game is a bit too dark, and the low-poly power of the DS works against the game's design. It is great to see developers trying to push the system, but the fully 3D environments just don't hold enough solid visual presentation.
Since SuperSlam is arena based, the developer tried to add variety through interactive level design. Many of the battle fields have destructible portions, which took us completely by surprise, but aside from the one or two areas in each environment, the rest of the level is often small and quite bland. The game can have its moments, however, such as sending a hated nemesis crashing into crates. There are 16 environments in all, so battles can show a bit of diversity, but the amount of strategy that goes with these levels is just too small. Most players will run around for a while, maybe try to find a few items, and then revert to button mashing head on.
While the design allows for random items and power-ups, this is the only true strategy during battle. Again, these items make for some great moments, they are just few and far between. Characters can grab swords and brooms, toss banana peels on the ground, or collect items that will shrink or enlarge their character. While some of these items add a bit more depth to the fights, it is still a basic button masher and suffers from a few seriously cheap moves. For example, the best way to attack any character at any time is to double jump and do a butt-stomp, a tactic that can throw off the entire game. Since the enemy AI is relatively basic, most of the characters will inevitably bunch up, allowing for that one move to layout everyone. The fighting gets far too repetitive and often doesn't allow for any strategy whatsoever.
As an added downside, the heads up display was poorly designed, even though the entire bottom screen is devoted to it. More than a third of the display is used for item management, while another equal portion houses a slider bar that controls the camera's zoom. There is no reason for a zoom feature to take up a third of the display, especially since this means the player must take their hands off the controls to do it. Why not make this an option in the pause menu instead? Who knows. Rather than helping the design as Nintendo's hardware intends, the second screen actually hurts the experience.
In fact, the entire design seems rushed, and the low quality is apparent in almost every aspect of production. Character-based animations do add a bit of personality, but they don't transition well from action to action, making the gameplay feel clunky. Collision detection also does nothing to help the combat, as characters slide off each other, never really making contact during fights. The main objective in the game is to get as many SuperSlams as possible, and while there is supposed to be a specific combo that executes the attack, it will happen at random regardless. This type of weak execution carries into virtually every aspect of Shrek SuperSlam.
While a few lines of dialogue are included for each of the fighters, the bulk of the audio production is generic and low quality. The same sound effects and musical score could have been used on Game Boy Advance, and while the overall production isn't necessarily bad, it does feel dated. As mentioned, mini-games are included to add depth to the product, though they seem thrown together and should have been cut out completely. Some consist of the main fighting engine, while others (such as a Space Invaders clone) take assets from the game and try to use them in different ways. The end result is a compilation of extras that look better on the back of the box than they do in the actual game.
©2006-02-17, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The best explanation for the SuperSlam design is to combine the 3D fighting style of Power Stone with the character-based design of Super Smash Bros. Gameplay relies heavily on attacking characters in hopes of pulling off that one perfect combo, known as a SuperSlam. The title screen opens with in-game sequences of the cast in action. While it is great to see characters like the Gingy and Donkey running around and kicking the crap out of Prince Charming, a huge flaw in the execution can also be seen before ever entering the game: animations don't transition well, and what could have been a great showcase for the game's opening sequence turns out to be the first of many flaws.
When booting up SuperSlam, players can chose from a variety of gameplay modes, many of which are centered around the 3D free-roaming engine. In story mode, players will follow one main adventure, but have the option of using different characters as the events allow. The Mega Challenge option encompasses over 30 mini-games, most of which need to be unlocked in the main mode first. A training area is also included for newcomers, and if players happen to find other owners of the game, multi-cart battle is also an additional play mode.
Rather than going the same route as the GBA game, which is all 2D and plays a lot like a vs. mode of Final Fight or Double Dragon, Shrek SuperSlam for DS went full 3D like the console versions. Though the gameplay translates relatively well on the small screen, the game is a bit too dark, and the low-poly power of the DS works against the game's design. It is great to see developers trying to push the system, but the fully 3D environments just don't hold enough solid visual presentation.
Since SuperSlam is arena based, the developer tried to add variety through interactive level design. Many of the battle fields have destructible portions, which took us completely by surprise, but aside from the one or two areas in each environment, the rest of the level is often small and quite bland. The game can have its moments, however, such as sending a hated nemesis crashing into crates. There are 16 environments in all, so battles can show a bit of diversity, but the amount of strategy that goes with these levels is just too small. Most players will run around for a while, maybe try to find a few items, and then revert to button mashing head on.
While the design allows for random items and power-ups, this is the only true strategy during battle. Again, these items make for some great moments, they are just few and far between. Characters can grab swords and brooms, toss banana peels on the ground, or collect items that will shrink or enlarge their character. While some of these items add a bit more depth to the fights, it is still a basic button masher and suffers from a few seriously cheap moves. For example, the best way to attack any character at any time is to double jump and do a butt-stomp, a tactic that can throw off the entire game. Since the enemy AI is relatively basic, most of the characters will inevitably bunch up, allowing for that one move to layout everyone. The fighting gets far too repetitive and often doesn't allow for any strategy whatsoever.
As an added downside, the heads up display was poorly designed, even though the entire bottom screen is devoted to it. More than a third of the display is used for item management, while another equal portion houses a slider bar that controls the camera's zoom. There is no reason for a zoom feature to take up a third of the display, especially since this means the player must take their hands off the controls to do it. Why not make this an option in the pause menu instead? Who knows. Rather than helping the design as Nintendo's hardware intends, the second screen actually hurts the experience.
In fact, the entire design seems rushed, and the low quality is apparent in almost every aspect of production. Character-based animations do add a bit of personality, but they don't transition well from action to action, making the gameplay feel clunky. Collision detection also does nothing to help the combat, as characters slide off each other, never really making contact during fights. The main objective in the game is to get as many SuperSlams as possible, and while there is supposed to be a specific combo that executes the attack, it will happen at random regardless. This type of weak execution carries into virtually every aspect of Shrek SuperSlam.
While a few lines of dialogue are included for each of the fighters, the bulk of the audio production is generic and low quality. The same sound effects and musical score could have been used on Game Boy Advance, and while the overall production isn't necessarily bad, it does feel dated. As mentioned, mini-games are included to add depth to the product, though they seem thrown together and should have been cut out completely. Some consist of the main fighting engine, while others (such as a Space Invaders clone) take assets from the game and try to use them in different ways. The end result is a compilation of extras that look better on the back of the box than they do in the actual game.
©2006-02-17, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved