If you didn't watch the credits of
Shrek 2, you were probably left wondering why Donkey's wife, Dragon, wasn't featured in the film. Well, it turns out that Donkey and Dragon started a family, resulting in a group of obnoxious fire-breathing dragon/donkey hybrids. Anyone who has been around little kids knows just how difficult it is to get them to sleep, so imagine trying to wrangle a group of flying, fire-breathing jackasses. This is the challenge that befalls Shrek as he has to get the kids to sleep by telling them a number of bedtime stories, setting up the premise behind
Shrek Super Slam.
Like Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers series, Shrek Super Slam's gameplay consists mainly of getting a motley crew of characters from assorted fairy tales and pitting them against each other in cartoony combat. Each fight is book-ended by a story and tells about an encounter between two characters, such as Puss n' Boots versus The Gingerbread Man. Some of the story sequences are really well done while others are rather cheesy. Regardless of quality, their only reason for existence is to facilitate fights between characters.
Outside the entertaining Story mode, a number of other modes are included like Training, Mega Challenge and Multiplayer. Mega Challenge mode is a group of mini-games that aren't as much fun as the main game, but give you something else to do. Challenges include races and a competition to see how far you can throw someone off a cliff. Playing through Mega Challenge unlocks new characters, new challenges and the real prize -- Slamageddon, a mode that makes every attack a powerful Super Slam. Multiplayer mode is easily the more entertaining of the additional modes. Multiplayer matches sport a number of settings to customize the experience. You can set up human vs. human or human vs. A.I. matches, as well as setting win conditions. It is a shame that an Online option wasn’t included.
