Leading up to the release of Bully for the PS2 several years ago, no one could quite predict the success — or lack thereof — the title would meet. Would it be dubbed a GTA clone produced for a quick buck by attempting to appeal to a different audience, or what it be remembered as a really cool, innovative, and stand-alone sandbox title? Fortunately, the latter is what actually happened, and now we’ve got Bully: Scholarship Edition for the Nintendo Wii.
For those of you unaware, Bully: Scholarship Edition is essentially a remake of the PS2 hit title, although there are some significant changes that, in my opinion, ultimately make it a better game than its prequel. The title is a sandbox game, in the vein of such popular games as Grand Theft Auto (incidentally, each game is done by the same dev team: Rockstar). However, the big twist is that rather than jacking cars and murdering innocent civilians, Bully takes on a less epic but equally fun feel by focusing on a prep school and the surrounding town.
You, the player, take on the role of Jimmy Hopkins, a kid who’s been picked on for quite some time. He’s unceremoniously dumped off at Bullworth Academy and left to fend for himself in what may be considered a high school student’s nightmare-turned-reality. There are bullies (surprised? I didn’t think so) around every corner, and Jimmy is by no means a very popular kid.
Plot foundation aside, it’s the vast majority of things to do that really make Bully: Scholarship Edition what it is. As I’ve already mentioned, it’s a sandbox game, meaning you’re essentially given free roam of your environment (though there are some things you’ll need to do before you have access to the town), and you’re welcome to do what you wish. Of course, there are missions scattered about, and the game is not entirely without a backbone — there are several classes (mini-games) and missions to complete that really add to the Bully experience.
A big piece of the game, outside of the free-roaming fun and character interaction to be had, is the mini-games that are offered in the form of different classes. For example, Biology is very much like Trauma Center in a nutshell, and while it’s been stripped of its complexity, the fun is still very much there. One significant problem with these mini-games, however, is that while some of them are pretty fun, like the one I’ve just mentioned, others aren’t. They lack a general sense of polish, and some of them honestly feel quite half-baked — certainly not something you want in any game, and even less so in a sequel to a game released two years ago.
But what’s the point? Even though it may not be your traditional “Go from point A to point B doing such and such along the way” video game, there’s still an encompassing goal for your time at Bullworth Academy: you want to gain status and recognition and escape your initial position as target of just about everybody at school. And it is by completing missions, going to classes, and interacting with the huge cast of very believable characters that this goal can ultimately be reached. Missions gain you respect and gratitude from other people, as well as funds which can be used to purchase items (there are a slew of them available). The same goes for classes, and these need to be completed in order to make progress in this game.
Despite all that Bully: Scholarship Edition has going for it, it’s not really worth a purchase unless it offers an improvement upon the original Bully. And thankfully, it does. There are four new classes to participate in (which translates into four new mini-games), and the controls have obviously been revamped to take surprisingly good advantage of the unique Wii Remote functionality. Fighting is a lot more fun, intuitive, and responsive than it was in the PS2 game, which essentially involved a bunch of button mashing. Shaking the Wii Remote or Nunchuk will throw punches with your right or left hands respectively. You can grab things (or people) with a tap of the Z button while simultaneously reaching out with your left hand. Little combinations can be formed even with these simple controls; for example, grab a kid, push him into a locker, and then throw a couple of quick punches to put him out of commission.
Graphically, Scholarship Edition is a bit disappointing, only because there’s no real improvement over the PS2 version of the game. I’m sure if you played the PS2 and Wii versions side-by-side, you’d find a couple of minute differences and improvements on the Wii side, but it’s nothing that’s all that noticeable. On the other hand, the sound is surprisingly good, with some entertaining and immersive sound effects and good voice acting that complement some decent-looking cutscenes.
Finally, there’s a multiplayer component to wrap things up, but sadly it really doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. No, you can’t traverse Bullworth Academy with the help of a friend; instead, you can engage in some competition over the title’s mini-games. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s a pretty shallow collection especially compared to some of the titles out there that are solely mini-game compilations. Additionally, the developers didn’t even bother to include all of the main game’s mini-games in this multiplayer mode. As a result, it suffers just from being far too shallow to be any fun for much more than a half-hour or so, and serves as nothing more than a quick distraction from the real meat of the game.
It’s by no means perfect, as there are certainly some areas in which Scholarship Edition could have been significantly improved, but I personally feel that this version of the game is superior to the version released two years prior. That said, while Scholarship Edition is a better game, the extra content and much-improved controls simply don’t warrant a fifty-dollar purchase from somebody who’s already played the PS2 version of Bully. But if you haven’t, and you’re looking for a fun, engaging, and lengthy Wii gaming experience, it’s certainly tough to go wrong with Bully: Scholarship Edition.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.7 Graphics
They’re not bad, but they’re not even perceptibly better than the PS2 visuals. Several cutscenes throughout the game, which are all pretty good. 4.2 Control
The Wii functionality is incorporated quite well into the game, and serves to make Bully a more immersive experience than ever. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Scholarship Edition features great sound effects and equally good voice overs — it’s all about immersion in Bully, and this category really helps. 3.6
Play Value
There’s tons to do, with plenty of missions and classes as well as NPC interaction, but there’s not much new for people who played the PS2 version of the game.
4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features: