VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Crave Developer: Crave Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Platformer (2D)
Graphics & Sound: Based on the popular Christian children’s television show VeggieTales, VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple is a 2D platformer that will keep younger audiences entertained. The graphics in LarryBoy and the Bad Apple are pretty standard as Game Boy Advance games go. The brightly colored characters and environments will definitely appeal to the game’s younger audience. Most of the show’s colorful characters appear in the game at one point or another and are easily recognizable. The game’s soundtrack is an appropriate mix of bouncy Saturday morning tunes and pop music sounding melodies.
Gameplay: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple is classic 2D platforming through and through. The game shares a lot with older classics like Donkey Kong. There’s even a construction level that will have you dodging rolling basketballs while navigating broken and unbroken ladders. Players jump over and under enemies as they navigate small, but complex, levels and head for the goal. The game is pretty easy to pick up and play. Levels that introduce new elements have a small demo showcasing new elements and how they work. While it would have been better for these elements to be interactive in some way, they are fairly short and not too intrusive.
Difficulty: The game offers three difficulty settings, the standard Easy, Medium, and Hard. In most of the early parts of the game, there is no way to “die” from enemies, at least directly. Each level features a time limit and this is the measurement of failure and success. Reach the level’s goal before time runs out and you move on to the next stage. Run out of time and you lose a life. Rather than killing you outright, most enemies serve only to slow you down or stop you outright, causing you to lose precious seconds.
Game Mechanics: Being a VeggieTales games, Christian morality is featured center stage. The particular moral this game teaches is about fighting temptation. The game doesn’t quite manage to pull this off gracefully, however. The story of each game area is essentially “Another one of LarryBoy's friends is falling into temptation. Let’s go save them from themselves!” While it never gets too bad, the game’s tone teeters dangerously close to becoming preachy on more than one occasion. This may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your particular point of view. LarryBoy and the Bad Apple offers several levels that (pardon the pun that will be coming shortly), break out of the 2D platforming mold, including musical minigames and, yes, one stage that plays like the classic arcade hit, Breakout. Though certainly not for everyone, if 2D platforming gameplay and Christian morality tales are your thing, then you might want to give VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple a spin.
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche
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