Fur Fighters

"Astonishingly hilarious shooter with a SOUL. Yes, a SOUL."

Fur Fighters is one of those rare games that really makes an effort to be something special. If it was a man at a singles bar, it would be the guy rushing round buying drinks for all the women, wearing a ludicrously expensive outfit by some designer or other (I'm envisioning Helmut Laing), clean-shaven and with shiny hair. As a game, it is polished, perfected, huge and deeply endearing. Fur Fighters wants to be loved. It wants your commitment. It has the omnipresent ''GSOH'' (good sense of humor) beloved of lonely hearts ads and it would like the company of you. This is what your Dreamcast has been aching for. This is an example of one of the games that contributed to the Dreamcast having such an unbeatable catalogue of titles. You need Fur Fighters, and it needs you.

Although Fur Fighters appears at first glance to be a children's title, it certainly isn't. That's not to say it's not suitable for children - far from it. This is a game that is suitable for everyone, though. It is a spectacular hybrid of genres, fusing elements of platform games, shoot-em-ups and puzzle games. Although this latter genre's link to the game is arguably somewhat tenuous, the puzzle element can not be under-estimated as a contributing factor to the sheer experience provided by Fur Fighters, since it is rare that there is any nod to the puzzle genre provided in a game of this type and as such, it is significant.

Fur Fighters features a supremely silly plot involving a bizarre criminal bear who steals the babies of six cute and fluffy animals in order to prevent them getting in his way. The animals - the heroes of the game - turn out to not be as fluffy as first anticipated however, when they gather together the kind of military arsenal that would put a small country to shame and go on a mission to get their babies back. More than a passing nod is directed towards Austin Powers; main perpetrator of organized crime in the Fur Fighters world General Viggo bears (no pun intended) more than a passing resemblance to Dr Evil, even down to his obligatory pet ''cat''. Dialogue is consistently highly entertaining and the cut-scenes really bring the game together. It is hard to feel detached from the plot since you are constantly being reminded of it, when on your quest to save the babies.

The aim of the game is to explore all facets of the vast levels, collecting tokens to unlock new levels and rescuing your babies. With around one hundred babies to locate in the entire game, this may sound somewhat monotonous - it really isn't. See, this is where the puzzle aspect of the game comes in. Every baby is located somewhere decidedly inconvenient (the point of them being kidnapped was to distract you, after all) and so you must solve a puzzle or problem for each baby to rescue them, and the puzzle is different for every single baby. Levels are themed, and remarkably expansive with plenty of exploration necessary to complete them. Also necessary will be collecting the large range of available weaponry, as well as frequently interchanging between the six playable characters in order to capitalize upon their varying strong points (for instance, only one character can dive, only one can squeeze through gaps, and so on). Change points are at fixed locations throughout the levels, generally placed somewhere logical to the flow of the game. Occasionally during play, a mini-game will appear to give some variance and a welcome diversion. You can play these mini-games as much as you like, contributing intensely to the already huge fun factor involved here.

Graphics are superbly accomplished, with the game having a distinctly cartoonish appearance. Levels are intricately designed with great use of detail complementing the scenery. Level layouts are easy to remember and very well designed. This is a very colorful game, with bright colors aiding instinctive game play by helping you to immediately identify the objects and characters you will need to react quickly for.

The characters in this game are all voice-acted. The standard of acting is extremely good with all voices being perfectly married with their respective characters. In-game music is catchy, generic platform game fare. It never becomes irritating, but it doesn't particularly add anything to the game experience. Sound effects are fairly realistic (in a cartoon way) and fit in well with the in-game action.

This game has, since release, been ported to the PlayStation2. The PS2 version has many additions and extra features that this version does not, but it is the same game and there is no reason to own both unless you're a big fan (or me!). For sentimentality reasons, I do prefer the Dreamcast version simply because it's the Dreamcast, but in all honesty if you have both consoles the PS2 version is probably the best version to own. This game is exceedingly enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/03, Updated 06/29/03