"Game for Cel"

Back in the days of the Nintendo 64, some of my favorite games revolved around car combat: Vigilante 8 and San Francisco Rush. Now that the 64 has been replaced with the Gamecube, this once beloved genre has almost disappeared. Mario Kart and Smuggler's Run have a taste of car combat to them, but the only true game I can think of is Cel Damage. There are probably others, but Cel Damage is definitely a unique entry. When I say unique, though, I don't mean "really good."

Graphics:
Ooh, cel shading. As if we haven't seen this before. Bomberman Generation and Wind Waker immediately come to mind. I don't have a problem with cel-shading, though. For some games, it's actually very fitting. Cel Damage falls into this category, though the spectacle is hardly impressive. The character models are bleached-out and poorly animated, and the special effects are everything but special. Luckily, the vehicles and locales are smooth and pretty, and I absolutely love how the cars move. In the same fashion you see on any cartoon show, the cars in Cel Damage bend and twist to fit the terrain and over-exaggerate their movement. It's a really cool effect. The framerate also appears to keep up with the zaniness, and the load times are fairly quick. Still, I find it really lame that the cel-shaded look is stressed so much that it's tied into the name of the game: Cel Damage.

Sound:
If a game is going to be an over-the-top cartoon, it better have over-the-top voice acting. Cel Damage's crew features everyone from an egotistical dinosaur to a fowl-mouthed duck. Each is voiced in the typical cartoon manner: loud, obnoxious, and as stereotypical as can be. Some of the characters are a real hoot while others aren't even marginally entertaining. Luckily, most of their catch-phrases are only ignited when pressing the Y button, so they don't get that annoying. The sound effects are equally and appropriately toonish. The music, on the other hand, consists of heavy rock and techno beats mixed with the theme of the level. None of the songs are bad. In fact, several are quite catchy, but a more cartoon-like soundtrack would have been twice as fitting.

Gameplay:
Cel Damage is vehicular combat played in fast-forward. This game is fast, zany, and frantic. It's so much so, it can be a little overbearing the first few times. You are placed in an arena with six other players and must crash and bash your way to the top. Winning isn't necessarily based on how many kills you get. Instead, the winner is the first to get so many points (500 default). You do get points by killing the other players, but you also get points just by hitting them with something. One problem with this, however, is that some of the weapons are incredibly cheap. Whoever has the axe, cleaver, or chainsaw power-up can easily dominate, because these only require one hit to kill the opposition. Well, you die very fast anyway, and it gets really tedious to fully "get into" the game when you are constantly getting blown up or batted around. Other weapons include guns, bombs, and the likes. The best weapons, though, are those that really capture the cartoon feel and don't resort to quick, cheap deaths. Baseball bats, boxing gloves, and sledge hammers don't really kill anybody, but they're darn fun to use. Other cool power-ups include a rocket and propellers, allowing you to take to the sky and bombard the enemy from above.

There are only four themes in the game with three levels in each. More levels would have been nice, since every level is really small and somewhat cluttered. There are a lot of hazards thrown in, like falling weights and collapsible bridges, which sound good on paper, but are more irritating than amusing. The inclusion of plenty of ramps, pushable objects, and destroyable sheep help, though. (Why do sheep always get picked on in video games, anyway?) There are also two other modes besides the main attraction. Gate Rally is essentially a race across the courses you previously did battle on. There are two gates, one at each end of the course. All you do is drive back and forth through these-- twenty times. It's very redundant and boring. It would have been nice if the gates changed locations, or if there were entirely new levels to race on, but alas-- no such luck. The last mode is a flag challenge where you must try to collect so many flags (usually four) and then head to the "winner's circle." This mode is only fun when played with less punishing weapons, though, since it is really hard to win when you're constantly dying.

Controls:
Faithful readers of my reviews (all zero of you) will know that the control setup is often one of the deciding points of my final score. Seldom do I acknowledge a good control setup, because this should be a given. Every game must have a good setup, and this is Cel Damage's biggest downfall. Any game that assigns the gas to the L or R button automatically gets my disapproval. I cannot stress this enough: such a setup really hurts your fingers! Not to mention it's awkward to use. I'm so used to using the A button to GO, I got really mixed up. The A button is, instead, used for your weapon. To brake or reverse requires letting go of the gas and pushing the L button. You do eventually get used to it (though it messes up how you play racing games forever after), and the vehicles do move with remarkable accuracy.

Frustration:
The default settings to be able to unlock stuff are horribly designed. Levels can take up to ten minutes a piece, and you might have thought you were going to win until one of the AI gets a point boost at the very end and takes the trophy. The AI is ruthlessly unfair and cheap. It doesn't help that the controls make it difficult to play, and the majority of the weapons are cheap shots at best. What is nice, though, is that you can have some friends play with you and try to open stuff up together. You'll still have to contend with three brutal AI opponents, but three is much nicer than six.

Lasting Appeal:
From the get-go, you only have access to a handful of characters, four courses, and no customization. Without this customization, you're stuck playing with all the crappy and cheap weapons. To really enjoy Cel Damage, you need to be able to turn off some of these nuisances, but you can't do this until you've won about 50 games against the AI. This will certainly take a while, but I seriously doubt anyone has the patience for such a task. Your best bet is to just use a cheat code that gives you everything. I'm not much of an advocate of cheating, but if it helps you actually enjoy the game, go for it. Once you can set the game to your liking, the multiplayer mode is a lot of fun. Cel Damage is quick, easy, mindless, and frantic, and it does grow on you.

Overall:
Cel Damage comes across as a game that wasn't given as much thought as it should have been given. The control setup alone makes absolutely no sense, and it is hard to forgive the game when only half of the 12 levels are really good thanks to some gimmicky design decisions. However, there really aren't any true car combat games on the Gamecube. If that's the only system you own, give Cel Damage a go. It's definitely not as polished as others of the genre, but it's so over-the-top and wacky, you and your friends should get a kick out of it.

Points:
+ Over-the-top carnage
+ Very fun multiplayer
+ Wacky weapons
-- Many of which are really annoying
-- Gimmicky hazards
-- Stupid control setup

Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/04, Updated 12/28/04