Popeye:
Rush for Spinach is incredibly good looking and sounds
just as great. Call me crazy, but I think it would
make an excellent cartoon. As a game, it's a freaking
mess.
When
will developers ever get it right when it comes to
Popeye? Just leave him in his cartoons if you can't
do him justice. The entire Popeye premise is perfect
for a videogame. There is a bully, a love interest,
a power-up in the form of spinach and some super-human
feats of strength typically reserved for a fist fest.
If you can't work with that, then give it up. The
reason Popeye works is because although he's a cartoon
character he's portrayed as a regular guy in a slightly
exaggerated world. In other words, he's keeping it
real. Do we really need to see Popeye and his pals
skateboarding, swinging from vines and riding dinosaurs?
This isn't Mario for crying out loud.
Rush
for Spinach is a generic game that blends platforming
and racing. The design attempts to replicate the classic
Super Mario format but in race form with three other
characters involved in getting to the end of the level
first. There are 12 levels filled with booby traps
and obstacles designed to slow you down. These traps
include the standard pit-filled-with-spikes and lava
pools. You can walk, run, jump and use various vehicles
such as boats, cars, skateboards and pogo sticks,
which starts to smell like a kart racer. There are
some ridiculous levels including the jungle level
in which the characters are decked out in Tarzan outfits
and swing from vines. There is also a level that takes
them back in time to the caveman days where they ride
dinosaurs through a minefield of active volcanoes.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Popeye a sailor?
When did he become a spaceman and a time traveler?
As
the game is designed, it's unfair to race against
the CPU since it knows the layout of the levels. You,
on the other hand, will have to go through each level
a number of times until you can commit most of it
to memory. The side-scrolling engine doesn't reveal
much that lies ahead so consequently you'll end up
getting stung numerous times just because the game
limits you from reacting in time.
You
can play as Popeye, Bluto, Olive and Wimpy. Grabbing
power-ups is the only way to win the race. You will
find Spinach and Curses which will either speed you
up or slow you down. Some power-ups will slow down
your closest opponent allowing you to take or increase
the lead temporarily. I say temporarily because if
you're playing against the machine, and it's your
first time in a level, you don't stand a chance. The
four-player level puts everyone on the same level
playfield but good lucking finding three other friends
with a copy of this game.
Graphically
the game is stunning. The characters are large, colorful
and beautifully animated. With voice clips from the
actual cartoon there's nothing to complain about as
far as production quality goes but if that's all I
cared about I would be better off watching the cartoon.
This game doesn't "blow me down," it just
blows.
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