Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy

"Glitches aside...GO BUY THIS GAME NOW!"

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, developed by Eurocom and published by THQ is now a $20 budget title. It uses 20 blocks of memory.

Story: In ancient Egypt, there was a powerful Egyptian Universal Empire that once joined several worlds through Solar Disc portals. However, the old empire was destroyed and the magical crowns that held the portals together were lost. Civilizations in each world have become separate, each suffering its own fate. The legend says that two forces are trying to recover the old empire and all of its crowns. One is Osiris, the positive force...the other is the dark Set. You play as Sphinx...a headstrong young warrior; your mission is to prevent Set from realizing his destiny of complete domination. You also play as the mummy, Tutankhamen; who set turned into a mummy.

Gameplay: First off, there is a MAJOR glitch in Sphinx which if suffered, you will need to start a new game. Do NOT save at the second save statue in the second Mummy mission, if you do and turn off the system...the door will be permanently locked. Aside from that...there were 2 minor glitches that froze the game; when I checked the Sphinx Board I saw that other people had suffered the same ones.

Sphinx is a typical adventure game...the controls are very typical to games such as: Zelda: Wind Waker, Beyond Good & Evil, Starfox Adventures, etc. You control Sphinx with the control stick, use your sword with the B button, jump with A, X is context sensitive, and the Y, L, R are all used with assigned items(shield, blowpipe). The control is very tight, you should not have any problems. The C stick is used as a camera which can swing 360 degrees around Sphinx assuming there are not obstacles around him. The Z button accesses your inventory and such.

The Mummy is far easier to control as his missions are generally more platforming. You control the Mummy the same as Sphinx...except the Mummy can crouch and become invisible. The Mummy also cannot die...which means he can be set on fire, electrocuted, and smashed paper thin to help complete puzzles; and believe me, there are a LOT of puzzles. They are very well laid out and not too hard, often times you will know exactly what to do, but how to execute it becomes the challenge.

Throughout the game you will explore temples, recover artifacts and jewels, help out others, collect scarabs, and complete a slew of mini-games. Honestly, this game packs a lot of content for $20, I completed the game 100% and finished with over 20 hours of saved game-time.

Sound: The music in Sphinx is incredible...the mix of Arabian-style beats and the quirky music played as the Mummy is set on fire is great. It very seldom gets repetitive; though it does not run in Dolby Pro Logic II. Another sad thing is that all the games voices are done thorough text, no voice-acting here. But to be fair, reading the text isn't as much of a bore as it was for me in Beyond Good & Evil.

Graphics: For a multiplatform release...Sphinx looks awesome it also runs in Progressive Scan. One thing players will notice is that there are many load times...around 15 seconds for each new environment entered, that is kinda disappointing. Though if you are trying to decide which system to get Sphinx for...I would suggest Gamecube due to the quickest load times and friendly controller.

Overall: Sphinx is a definite contender for ''Sleeper Hit of 2003.'' It's an incredibly fun game for adventure and platforming fans. It is a great compliment to any gamers collection. This isn't a game you are going to force yourself to play. GO BUY IT NOW!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/04