Shrek Super Slam
Score: 83% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Activision Developer: Shaba Games Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Party/ Arcade/ Fighting
Graphics & Sound: Shrek Super Slam's graphics look very much like the Shrek movies. The character models are highly accurate and nicely detailed, some of the moves were obviously patterned after fight scenes from the movies, and moves that aren't taken directly from the films seem natural for the characters and show a judicial use of creative license. The sound effects and voice work in Shrek Super Slam sound just like the actors from the Shrek movie. No kidding - I was pretty sure that the voices were done by the original actors until I looked in the credits and read otherwise. One really cool feature of Shrek Super Slam is the huge number of costumes (and locked characters) that are unlockable. The Story Mode features a lot of interesting and funny costumes; passing a level that features one of these costumes will typically unlock it and add it to the available costumes in the multiplayer modes. Donkey as the Juicy Fruit gum zebra is especially amusing. The music in Shrek Super Slam is also very appropriate for the license seeming to be about equal parts "Fairy Tale Land" and rock, much like what's used in the Shrek movies.
Gameplay: While Shrek Super Slam is first and foremost a party game, there are single player modes. You can choose from Story mode, Mega Challenge, Melee or Training. Story mode is a series of created situations that lead up to a fight. There is a lead-in story and then you fight against the computer as one of the characters from the story. As I mentioned above, making it past a level in this mode can earn you additional costume changes for the characters. Mega Challenge focuses on specific attacks, abilities or goals and challenges players to pull off a certain number of these within a time limit. This does provide a nice challenge, but also helps to train you in the various skills and moves used in the game. Training is just that - you train at the various moves that you can execute with the different characters. This is done as a three stage tutorial - for moves of increasing levels of difficulty. This can be useful to help you work on those special moves and such, but doesn't offer the story/premise of the Mega Challenge mode. The main mode in Shrek Super Slam is, of course, the Melee mode. This is the mode for which this game was truly designed. Get up to four gamers together, grab a multi-tap and some controllers, choose your characters and enjoy the free-for-all slam fest. The characters and the costumes that are unlocked are for use in this mode. If you've been playing Training mode, this is what you've been training for. Melee mode can be quite fun, given a suitable group of gamers. The gameplay can be quite fast when you really get going, and there are location-specific power-ups that can be utilized against your enemies, as well as some surprising environment interactivity. While the Story mode is fun and the challenges are interesting, the real replay value is in playing against friends in the Melee mode. If you have a few friends that really like Shrek and like melee games, then this game is an obvious choice.
Difficulty: Shrek Super Slam is first and foremost a party game and, as such, the difficulty is greatly dependent on your opponents. Additionally, it is important to choose a character who works well with your play style. For example, Donkey has a Dash attack that is pretty good, as well as a helicopter - like move. Both of these moves take a bit of aiming - especially the helicopter - and may be more difficult to control for some gamers. The best way to find a character that's good for you is probably to try them out in the Training mode or simply play a few quick matches against a friend in Melee mode. As for the progression based modes, such as Story mode and the Mega Challenge mode, there are some stages that are more difficult than others, but in general the increase in difficulty seems to be a fairly natural progression. I did find that in the Story mode, 'G-Nome' was a rather aggravating and stubborn opponent, but after a few tries, I was moving right along in the Story mode again.
Game Mechanics: Shrek Super Slam is a license game and a party/melee game. Historically, license games have typically not been very well executed, with their developers and publishers hoping to sell units based on the license alone, rather than using the license well (let alone creatively) and creating a good game. Shrek Super Slam throws this tradition out the window and provides models and voices that are very true to the Shrek license, while providing creative storyline and scenarios, familiar locations and introducing new characters that fit right in with the existing, known characters. The gameplay is a solid melee game, to boot! If you're a fan of Shrek but haven't played melee party games before (such as Super Smash Brothers) - or if you're a fan of party melee games but haven't seen Shrek before (is that possible???) - then you may want to rent Shrek Super Slam before purchasing it. If you're a fan of both, pick this one up immediately. You'll be glad you did.
-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins
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