"Not as bad as it looks"

For a couple of weeks, every time I went to the video store to rent a movie or game, I'd see this game sitting on the shelf, for sale - $15. I thought it looked pretty cheesy so I picked it up and read the back of the package. It boasted 21 levels and 4 playable characters - sounds good, if you like that sort of thing. So I bought it. Here we go...

Gameplay

The whole game takes place underwater(surprised?), and you are Aquaman, King and guardian of Atlantis, the underwater city. You'll swim around, shoot your hook-hand about, and, of course, beat up bad guys. The combat is standard beat-'em-up. Press different combinations of buttons for different attacks. Combos can range from simple(A,A,A), to average(Y,X,A,A,A,X), to downright impossible to remember(not to mention execute -X,A,A,Y,X,X,A,A,A,Y). The most fun thing to do when you're up against a group of enemys, is to stun one of them, pick him up, and throw him at another enemy, and keep doing this until all of them are gone. The best part of the game, for sure, is the 'sub attack' levels. In these levels(there's only four of them), you pilot a submarine, and you get to shoot lasers at other submarines. Plus, in the sub levels, you can play in first-person mode(you view the action from the sub's cockpit), which can make it much easier. The controls are pretty good; nice and simple. Use the R button to swim forward, control stick to
steer, B to block, and A, Y, and X are your attack buttons. The camera can be a bit jerky, especially during combat, which gets quite annoying at times.

Graphics

The graphics aren't as bad as everyone says they are. In Atlantis, while you're swimming around, you'll often pass a building or two, but these serve as nothing more than scenery and obstacles. That said, the scenery isn't too bad, but nothing amazing. Sometimes you'll pass a statue of yourself or some atlantian, and you can often see ruins of old buildings sitting around.
But you're here to hear about the graphics themselves, right? Okay then. It doesn't look like they tried to detail anything a heck of a lot. If you swim over to the aforementioned building, you'll be able to see individual pixels. Not good. There are no cutscenes in this game, instead there's little comic strips that come up between levels. And they're not even drawn! They're done with a computer, and the character's expressions never change. So a guy will be grinning like a fool while he's saying, 'that's bad news!'

Sound

The background music is cheesy as heck, so it goes right with the game. It just sounds like standard super-hero music. The sound effects just sound like...y'know, lotsa POW! noises and stuff. A kick sounds the same as a punch, and Aquamans hook-hand sounds like a record player trying to play a CD. Not so great.

Story

Story? What story? The above mentioned comic strips are used for expressing the storyline, or lack thereof. Atlantis is being attacked, and it's up to aquaman to save --zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It's too cheesy. But that's what I expected, so I can't complain. Oh, and one more thing. When you play as a new character(i.e. Black Manta, the first boss), they don't change the levels. At all. So when you're playing as Black Manta, there will still be a level where you fight Black Manta. Stupid, but hilarious.

Replay value

The replay value in this game is good, 'cuz of the four playable characters(Aquaman, Classic Aquaman, Tempest, and Black Manta). One thing that really brings the replay value down though, is that there's no level select. You can go through the game as many times as you like, but you're stuck playing the levels in order. If you could select the level you wanted to play, the game
would be better.

The 'AAAAARRRRGHH!!!!!!' factor (a.k.a. frustration/difficulty)

This game isn't very frustrating, nor is it very difficult. The only remotely frustrating part is trying to pull off those long combos. Let me repeat that one - X,A,A,Y,X,X,A,A,A,Y. That whole thing must be pressed in about two seconds.

Overall: 6-point-something. Anyway, it's rounded to a 7.

To buy or to rent?
If you can still rent it, you might as well. That is, if you like action games/beat-'em-ups. If you see it for sale, used for 15 bucks, I would recommend it.

Closing remarks:
Aquaman is a short game, and isn't very hard. However, with the 4 playable characters, sub attack levels, and good gameplay, Aquaman IS NOT as bad as people say it is. I would recommend it to any fan of Aquaman, action games, and beat-'em-ups.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/04