Vexx

"Revolutionary new franchise my FOOT!"

I purchased Vexx the day after it came out thinking it was going to be a fairly decent action game. However, I read utterly wrong, and I found out it is nothing but a cruddy platforming game, and the action isn't even that great.

Story
The story is very lame and unoriginal. You play as Vexx, and your world is overun by this other group of aliens. Vexx and his grandfather are kidnapped. Vexx's grandfather is killed and Vexx gets these powerful legendary gauntlets to help him. Now he must stop the leader so he won't be able to destroy other worlds. I think I've seen this story around recently. 3/10

Graphics
I've seen better on the PSX. Vexx looks terrible. The monsters are lame and unoriginal. However, the details and the backgrounds are very nicely done. 4/10 just for the very nice looking worlds.

Gameplay
This is utterly terrible, as MOST platforming games are. First off, the C-stick is used to control the camera angle, but it doesn't. I think that only ever worked ONCE for me, and that was when it told me it did.

Combat is just terrible. Only one basic combo that doesn't look good, and about two special moves. Jumping is just plain terrible as.....he can't jump that far or high. Climbing takes forever, and he runs slower than an old fat lady stuck in a barrel of molasses. The controls are so unresponsive and severely lack any sensitivity.

To beat different levels, you must collect 100 of these purple circle deals, and you must find 6 golden bells that allow you to pick up this egg thing. So, normally you're just running around looking for these things without getting anything done. Very boring. Gameplay is this game worst feature. 1/10

Music/Sound
Voice acting is VERY bad, especially the narrator in the beginning. She is the worst. I couldn't understand the instructor and the old man was very annoying too. The sound effects weren't that bad, but they could have been better. The musical score was surprisingly enjoyable. I liked it. Sound gets a 4/10

Replay value
VERY LOW
I quit this game only 1 hour into it knowing I was going to hate it. I don't think replay value gets worse than that.

So if you want a good platform (if there is such thing) I would stay away from this. Mario will always be your best choice for platforming games. Buy Mario Sunshine or wait for Mario 128 later this year. Ratchet and Clank is also another good choice. This game is NOT worth the $40 you will pay for it. I'm just lucky that Dark Cloud 2 is around the corner so I can trade this garbage in.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/03, Updated 02/13/03