#blitz games

Pac-Man World 3

Diesel Dreaming Concept Art:

Starfishman to the Rescue Concept Art:

Supersized Patty Concept Art:

Alaskan Belly Trouble Concept Art:

Rocket Rodeo Concept Art:

Revenge of the Giant Plankton Monster Concept Art:

The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown

2.5/5

Adaptation 3/5, fun 3/5

Wishes aren't working for some reason, so now you gotta bake a Wishaversary muffin to fix things in the excuse plot for Shadow Showdown. The game takes place across 6 levels, with each one having 3 unique powerups. Blitz did a pretty good job in thinking up all the powers. We were expecting a bunch of reskinned dupes and there aren't really any, so each level feels unique thanks to what abilities you get.

That said, the levels themselves are overly big and empty. There's a lot of times where they spread coins out to try and fill the level out or throw an enemy in and it just adds to the empty feeling. The graphics really capture the look of the show, but art direction is a little weak. Again, they try to hide there's too much space, so there'll just be a random portrait in a sewer or a cave. The whole game just looks and feels bad to be going through as a result.

Sounds bad too. Not the music, which generally fits the vibe of the themes like a Crimson Chin comic or a Planet of the Apes world. But Wanda and goddamn Cosmo do not ever shut up. If they see an enemy, they say something. If they see a box you should push, they say something. If they see a wish star, they say something. If you die, they say something. If they haven't said something in a minute, they say something. And listen, not to say Fairly OddParents is a bad show, but rewatching an episode in preparation, you realize as an adult how much it really leans on wacky, random humor, especially with Cosmo. So the standard banter is that Wanda will say something "helpful" (AKA condescendingly obvious) while Cosmo will say a monkey cheese dishwasher. Over and over and over and over.

And the reason for Wanda is that this game is obviously made for like. The babiest of baby gamers. It holds your hand so hard there'll be an imprint by the end. The characters will spell out the puzzles that are mostly "move box to location" or "press switches fast". There's infinite lives, and when you die, you get returned to the last checkpoint. This includes checkpoints at each phase of a boss. Literally anybody can get through this game, and likely quite fast, unless they're going for 100%, which we did on the first two levels and realized how tedious it is.

You get coins for permanent powerups, but there's only a handful and most of them are "help locate the already-obvious pickups". You can find stickers that give you information on the game's characters, and video clips that play random (and hilariously low-res in the modern era) clips from the show. Not very exciting rewards.

These weeks, I shall chronicle my desperation to complete THQ's Console SpongeBob Games before it releases!!!!