Games Played 07/08/2009

Chrono Cross - PlayStation
The Dark Eye: Drakensang - PC
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure - NDS
Mesmerize - PlayStation 3
Street Fighter IV - PlayStation 3

RANDOM GAME OF THE DAY:


Go! Go! Hypergrind (2003)
Developer: Poponchi
Platform: Nintendo GameCube
Purchase Date: 01/07/2004


Look, it's Gigi! The bucktoothed tomboy in a pink bunny suit!

Atlus would normally publish and make games that are very Japanese in their nature so in that regards, Go! Go! Hypergrind is the most unique game that has ever been associated with the company's name. When it comes to the game's setup, it is as weird and offbeat as they come: In an alternate reality populated by "real" cartoon characters, Spumco - yes, as in the same animation studio responsible for the cultural phenomenon known as The Ren & Stimpy Show - is holding an audition for an upcoming skateboard-based action feature and you get to play as one of the loony auditioning characters. So basically, this is a skateboard game but with a nasty twist: while you are out doing the regular grinds and tricks, you are also required to get your character to obtain "Negative Reactions" by getting purposely brutalized by many of the environments' devious contraptions - this includes getting decapitated by a huge buzz saw, flattened by an incoming car, or shocked by electrical conductors. Other than the zany character designs by Spumco (my favorite being the very phallic "The Johnson Brothers"), I don't find anything particularly engaging about this game. This is another impulse buy for me and it was pretty cheap when I picked it up. The game tries to differentiate itself by adding a flair of humor and fantasy into the skateboard game genre but as funny as the self-mutilations are - which happen to be its biggest gameplay feature - they lose their appeals rather quickly and suddenly they become a crutch to the flow of the gameplay.

LIBRARY STATUS: 2 out of 5