Vectorman

"Jumping jack flash..."

The year was 1995, and the Sega Genesis was in trouble. It had years since it had entered the console war against the Super Nintendo, and things weren't looking too bright for the former. Sonic the Hedgehog had proved to be a true rival to Nintendo's Mario. His spiky blue hair, incredibly fast gameplay and laid-back attitude were more than enough to leave the hedgehog permanently etched into the hearts and minds of fans abroad. Not even the coolest mascot in the world could save the Genesis from its inevitable fate. Thus the chilidog-eating rodent was left to ports, re-releases, and spinoffs while the minds behind the games tried to come up with something new. There were plenty of great series like Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star and Earthworm Jim that could have postponed the console's demise. But the Genesis needed something more, something fresh, upbeat and stylish. They needed Vectorman.

That's right, people of Earth. It's Vectorman, the newest hero on the block! He's a big pile of green orbs with infrared eyes and cool poses! What's not to like? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: he also happens to a garbage man/clean-up droid from the future. It seems that mankind finally trashed the Earth badly enough to make the entire planet inhospitable. As humanity drifted into the cosmos in search of another home to abuse, they left Earth a godforsaken world covered with toxic sludge. Instead of owning up to their responsibilities, the humans decided to create a bunch of robots to help tidy things up. But in the oh-so-typically cliched sci-fi plot twist fashion, the head robot dude gets corrupted, infects all the other robots, and plans to destroy everything Luckily, Vectorman was off dropping off some trash on the sun, conveniently making him immune and the world's unlikely savior.

We are so screwed.

Okay, so he's not the Terminator, Robocop, or any of those other guys. Big deal. This interstellar garbage man comes packing with an arm-mounted blaster capable of dealing out a quick line of weak energy pellets. Considering that most of the enemies in the first stage can take five or six hits before collapsing, it's little wonder that the game games packed with items to upgrade your weapons. You'll get to spray out streams of laser beams, triple your firepower, and decimate your foes in a five-way spread of laser death. On top of that, our hero can use his spherical limbs to transform himself into various objects, such as grenades, missiles, drills, and even a fish for the underwater levels. Using these powerups is both a short and sweet experience; each item has a limited amount of time before Vectorman reverts back to his not-so awesome self.

Aside from shooting up everything that gets in your way, you'll spend a fair amount of time exploring the various passages and hallways that comprise every level. The goal is to reach the end of the level in one piece, but the real objective lies with the various pickups strewn throughout every nook and cranny. These little orbs of light offer no tactical advantage in the heat of battle, but they do grant you tons of bonus points if you collect all of them. If that isn't enough item nabbing fun for you, the levels are filled with a bunch of wall-mounted televisions that can be destroyed for more items, bonus points, and plenty of flashy graphics. Toss in some fairly slippery controls and some occasionally challenging platforming, and you've got one nice action game.

Too bad you'll be too busy ogling at the insane graphics to get anything done. Maybe Sega was trying to make up for its own insecurities, but they've really outdone themselves. From the first level, Vectorman will find himself traversing a world that is both incredibly detailed and stylish. You can see flags rippling through a stormy breeze, lightning crackling and lighting up the whole screen, snowy wastelands and ruined lagoons, the way that Vectorman's armor reflects the light from his laser blasts, or even the way his eyes and limbs glow in the dark. There will be giant sludge monsters, rogue security drones, fighter jets armed with maces, mutant mosquitoes, and plenty of other nasty little buggers worth laser-beaming to death. Once you've topped it off with some generic techno music and a wide variety of annoyingly loud sound effects, you'll find that this game goes far beyond what you'd expect from the Genesis.

Vectorman has a lot going for it. It may have a horribly cliched plot, but its hero has enough zest and style to keep things interesting. The game features a decent blend of shooting action and basic platforming with a bit of item collecting thrown in on the side. The gameplay is fast-paced and easy to learn, the imperfect controls notwithstanding. The real draw comes with the graphics; it'd be hard to find another Genesis title that features the same kind of detail and smooth animation found here. Though Vectorman couldn't save the console from its demise, it still does a good job of reminding us why we loved Sega so much.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/06