Whac-a-mole
SCORE: 72
Some of my fondest memories of the county fair have been playing the whac-a-mole game. Let me come completely clean, it has been winning that whac-a-mole game at the local county fair. Sure the prize was a cheaply made stuffed animal, but it has always been my own personal favorite game at the fair (among the ones that are not rigged). When I found out that Activision had made a whac-a-mole game on the Nintendo DS, I was there. The player uses the stylus to touch the heads of the moles to score points, and send them back into the ground. Special items, presents, extra time, fake moles (who take points away), thief moles, and quite a few other aspects add to the gameplay of an already spectacular concept. Not all great concepts are executed properly, so please keep reading to find the verdict on Whac-a-mole.
Graphically Whac-a-mole is generally bright and colorful. The background graphics are really nice in a lot of areas. The moles are a different story. Their graphics are re-used a whole lot. So much so that, they are not very inspiring. Some diversity of the moles graphics would have been really nice. This is quite a contrast indeed. There are no offensive images that this reviewer noticed. Some of the graphics like the ones of the moles in shorts, are strange, but not to the level of offensive in this reviewers humble opinion.
The music in Whac-a-mole is okay. It is one of those games that the musical score is nothing that is too annoying, yet it is not jaw dropping inspiring either. In a lot of ways it is there, but turning it off would not affect the outcome for the player. The one exception is the annoyance of the clock running out. That noise is used to purposely grate upon the player to get them to hurry up. Unfortunately for Activision, they made the game so difficult that players hear that sound, until they are fed up, and completely shelf this game (or take it back to the store as trade in).
Ideally Whac-a-mole should have a lot of replay value to it. But everyone here that tried it wound up frustrated to the point that replaying it was of no interest. Some of the challenges are not explained well, and very difficult to achieve (even for master gamers). Others are nearly impossible to achieve. There are a couple of different modes to this game, but none of them are worth your time, or hard earned dollars. There are plenty of games that are better than this one.
The gameplay in Whac-a-mole took a very long time to figure out. There were times that the game would not let me whack moles. I eventually figured out that the presents I would selecting would more often than not contain items that would harm me. Since the clock is set at such a short interval already, that would mean losing. Sadly Activision did not capture the fun of the whac-a-mole game at the county fair.
I really wish that developers would
spend more time, energy, and resources on games that are family
friendly. This game is a classic example. It could have been fun for the
whole family. It certainly is safe for the entire family. The game could
have taught perseverance, protecting your vegetables, and overcoming
adversity. Instead it teaches to mistrust presents. I would really like
to see a sequel to this game, but they need to do some serious tweaking
to the timer, and special items (that wind up hurting the player). Kudos
to Activision for making the attempt.
- Paul
Graphics: 79%
Sound: 70%
Replay/Extras: 67%
Gameplay: 62%
Family Friendly Factor: 84%
System: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Activision
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
{Comic Mischief}
Want more info on this
product,
or the company that made this product?
Set web browser to:
Link
Got a question, comment,
or a concern regarding this
review?
Email them to:
pbury@familyfriendlygaming.com