"Some what lacking in appeal."

Garfield is a fat, lazy cat by Jim Davis that everyone loves! Eating, sleeping and kicking around Jon, his owner, and his dog Odie are his favorite hobbies. Watching some late night movies are also a fun ordeal for this orange ball of fur.

Gameplay: 7
While watching some movies late night and eating some popcorn, Garfield gets sucked into the television! Now you must go through numerous channels, thus levels, and get out of the television unless you want to be trapped for life. You jump around, hit stuff either short range or long range using limited ammunition and go onto the next level. As far as I could go, I didn't too far. I basically went to the boss playing for the first time and couldn't figure out what to do.

Graphics: 9
The first level seeing how that I never got past it, was very colorful and vibrant. The game uses excellent color schemes to show things such as the skulls and skeletons and it does seem cartoonish. Though keep in mind that they probably wanted that effect, would a realistic Garfield look good? Garfield would appear out of place. Backgrounds and objects such as trees are cleverly done. Bosses are clever such as the first one, ''Vampire Odie.''

Sound: 9.5
Audio is well done and brings out the mood/atmosphere of that level. For example, the first level being a graveyard type thing with evil skeletons, bats and various nocturnal themes such as the vampire. In that level, a mysterious setting is placed by excellent use of strings, chords, tempo and the whole music things. As far as sound effects go, hitting an enemy using short range is a short little amusing sound. Long range weapons last longer and there isn't much more to the effects that can be said without first hand gaming. Everything said, the audio is enjoyable.

Controls: 9
I am not sure about the buttons being precise but if you buy the game you could check the manual or check a FAQ or something, no big deal. Button A makes Garfield jump for things such as holes in the ground, Button B makes Garfield swing this bone to hit the enemy and Button C makes Garfield throw his ammunition, useful for long range. Most enemies die with a hit or two and of course the directional pad is used. Right/Left moves Garfield in that direction, Down makes Garfield duck as well as look down and Up has no use other than look up or entering a door.

Lasting Value: 6
This is the place where the game takes a hit. It is fun to be Garfield and who can deny that lovable orange tabby? While that may be the case, the game seems very tedious at the boss stage. The first boss Vampire Odie which I wasn't sure what to do. I'd hit the vampire like five times still not sure if there was a trick or something to beating him. Should I have investigated further? Yes but the reason that I didn't feel like it makes you think twice about this game.

Overall (Not an average): 7
Buy it, the game isn't that bad, it's simply appealing to some and not others. For the low price Genesis games are selling for (Under five dollars here), this game is a good buy even if it doesn't rank high on your to buy list.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/02, Updated 01/27/02