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THE GRINCH (DC)
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Publisher: Konami.
Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement. Released: December 2000 (Europe). Genre: 3D Platformer. Other versions: PS; PC; GBC. Posted 1st January 2020. By Shane Battams © 2020 |
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Amidst the glut of mascot-based platformers that appeared in the early 2000s, The Grinch feels like perhaps the most uneventful, as Artifical Mind & Movement’s foray into the genre conjures little emotion. It would be unfair to say that it is particularly flawed or broken, but it’s a platformer with very little in the way of charm, spark or invention. Unless you simply must own every 3D platformer there is to buy, this one’s likely an easy pass.
Much like every year, The Grinch is looking to disrupt Whoville’s holidays. As he consults his mountain of boxes containing gadget blueprints, a tumble causes them to scatter all around the town and leave him unprepared for ruining another Christmas. Thus, the game is set, as you’re forced to roam around several areas of Whoville causing disruption, collecting lost blueprints to create gadgets and wreck presents. The few moments of storytelling are fine, with the traditional rhyming scheme still incorporated into dialogue, but if you’re familiar with any form of this fifties story (be it the book or the movie upon which this game is based) you’ll find the game adds very little.
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While it may look chipper, The Grinch becomes a chore to play, due to a litany of dull tasks
The Grinch follows the 3D platformer template popular around the turn of the millennium. Four separate areas each contains a handful of missions as well as collectible Presents for you to destroy and blueprints to recover. You’ll often find yourself backtracking through levels once you find new gadgets, as some areas are inaccessible until later on. The green man himself can jump, perform a Pancake in mid-air to crush anything underneath and burp his bad breath. The controls feel decent, and the camera works well enough too. It’s not that The Grinch is particularly flawed, but it’s myriad of dull tasks become a chore long before the end. Whether it’s the multitude of collection missions or brief, unsatisfying distractions, even younger players will likely tire of this one.
Not even a slew of gadgets can spice up the game. Once you attain all the blueprint pieces for a gadget, it’s back to Grinchy’s den to piece it together. You eventually gain access to a rotten-egg launcher, slime shooter and a couple of navigational gadgets which open up more areas to explore within each level. The gadgets have initial novelty, but as you gain more, the cumbersome switching system and reliance on the same ammo to power any gadget become a bit of a chore. The only other element comes in the form of Max, Grinch’s trusty canine companion. You can swap to him at any moment, allowing for some adorable barking and the exploration of small openings. However, his usefulness is called upon so infrequently, he doesn’t ultimately add much.
It doesn’t help that the world of The Grinch is so uninviting. From the very start, everything has a dull-coloured look which fails to bring Seuss’ story to life. Environments are plain, characters outside of the protagonist look flat and low-res, and the slew of zones all feel barren and repulsive in tone. The Grinch himself looks better in quality, but low-rent cutscenes with NPCs look awful. The sound isn’t much better, with a handful of music tracks which swing between unnerving, irritating and boring. The main hub theme, for example, sounds ripped out of Silent Hill, rather than a welcoming platformer. The sparse voicework is acceptable, and as mentioned, the rhyming from the book remains intact. The sound effects are decent quality, but hardly memorable.
Not even a slew of gadgets can spice up the game. Once you attain all the blueprint pieces for a gadget, it’s back to Grinchy’s den to piece it together. You eventually gain access to a rotten-egg launcher, slime shooter and a couple of navigational gadgets which open up more areas to explore within each level. The gadgets have initial novelty, but as you gain more, the cumbersome switching system and reliance on the same ammo to power any gadget become a bit of a chore. The only other element comes in the form of Max, Grinch’s trusty canine companion. You can swap to him at any moment, allowing for some adorable barking and the exploration of small openings. However, his usefulness is called upon so infrequently, he doesn’t ultimately add much.
It doesn’t help that the world of The Grinch is so uninviting. From the very start, everything has a dull-coloured look which fails to bring Seuss’ story to life. Environments are plain, characters outside of the protagonist look flat and low-res, and the slew of zones all feel barren and repulsive in tone. The Grinch himself looks better in quality, but low-rent cutscenes with NPCs look awful. The sound isn’t much better, with a handful of music tracks which swing between unnerving, irritating and boring. The main hub theme, for example, sounds ripped out of Silent Hill, rather than a welcoming platformer. The sparse voicework is acceptable, and as mentioned, the rhyming from the book remains intact. The sound effects are decent quality, but hardly memorable.
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'Tis not a 3D platformer without explorable stately homes and snow levels. The Grinch cannot be accused of passing on either
Even if you stick with The Grinch, you’ll find it’s on the short side. Missions primarily progress the story, and eventually, you will reach an endgame involving a climatic showdown. This takes around 8 hours to reach, and while you can work towards a 100% completion by finding every present, collecting hearts-of-stone and completing every mission, most players will probably tire of this long before you reach the end credits, and there is very little incentive for repeat visits. You can unlock some 2-player mini-games too, but again, they are insubstantial.
While it's certainly not the worst mascot-platformer or movie tie-in, The Grinch is such a hollow and uninviting experience that it still is hard to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard of collectors. The gameplay never really gets into gear, the presentation is more repellent than inviting and the game’s brevity is matched only by its lack of ambition. It’s even undercut by a lack of polish in spots, with bugs aplenty. Unlike the character it’s based on, The Grinch doesn’t see the error of its ways and, consequently, fails to redeem itself despite its more promising qualities.
While it's certainly not the worst mascot-platformer or movie tie-in, The Grinch is such a hollow and uninviting experience that it still is hard to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard of collectors. The gameplay never really gets into gear, the presentation is more repellent than inviting and the game’s brevity is matched only by its lack of ambition. It’s even undercut by a lack of polish in spots, with bugs aplenty. Unlike the character it’s based on, The Grinch doesn’t see the error of its ways and, consequently, fails to redeem itself despite its more promising qualities.
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VERDICT
“While it’s certainly not the worst mascot-platformer, or the worst movie tie-in, The Grinch is such a hollow and uninviting experience that it’s difficult to recommend” OVERALL: 5/10 |