Buck Bumble

"What a strange game."

Buck Bumble is a game that really shows that people can think of strange ways to derive some sort of pleasure out of a video game. You are a bee, named Buck Bumble, of course, and you must save the Insect Kingdom from a evil group of radioactive insects. You are equipped with a large amount a weapons to get the job done, though you are going against millions and millions of insects. This brings you to think that this game is a typical shooter, but NO, it is far from it. You can fly in this game, adding a sense that enemies can come from any level, kinda like if you were playing in space. However, the 3-D environment quickly becomes confusing as you try to look around to shoot come bugs. It also means that you must fly and shoot at the same time, which would get confusing when you somehow take a nosedive into a pool of water, which automatically kills you. However, with this added sense of depth comes with graphical and gameplay cut backs.

Graphics: 4
These are some of the worst graphics I have seen on the N64. You can see the difference in graphical capabilities when you look at Buck Bumble and something like Wave Race. Look at the difference! There is a huge amount of graphical ''fog'' that you can barely see what is in front of you. However, Buck is done quite nicely. You can see that they wanted to do a really good job on Buck, they let everything back a notch so Buck could look that good. The weapons also look pretty good too. But, most of the colors look drab and out of place in a garden. Would you find just 3 colors in a garden?

Gameplay: 8
Well, you could tell the the maker of this game wanted it to do all fast paced and blam blam shoot-um-up type gameplay, but the game turned into a slower paced game the expected. You do not get to see as many enemies unless you really come in charging with your super strong gun blazed, which, unless very good at flying, would get your slaughtering in an instant. You must also take very carful aim when using most of the guns (because some of the weapons have homing devices) and to do that, most of the time you must go onto the ground and leave you unprotected so you can get a clear shot. Also, when you look at the levels, which are done with jagged polygons sticking out, you notice that the once HUGE level that you though you were in is actually quite small, which was a disappointment for me, because the shooting and challenge factor show that again, they took a long time to make this game and you should play it well.

Sound: 7
One of my favorite parts of this game was the beginning intro soundtrack, with the little song about Buck Bumble. I would stare out the title screen for 10 minutes while listening the song repeat itself over and over and over again. But, when you are playing the levels, I don not remember listening to any song of any kind while trying to kill insects. The only thing making sound was your little insect wings and guns. So why do I give the sound a 7? Because of the intro. I think it shows that they could of put sound into the game. I just wonder why they didn't.

Fun Factor: 5
One of the things that saved this game was one of it's multi-player modes, the soccer mini game. You and you friend playing with you must try to get a soccer ball into the opposing player's net. You had your insect body, your beginning gun, and the rocket launcher to get it there. I would play this with my brother and we would just keep killing our self when we hit them with a rocket. Otherwise, you really will not have much fun when playing Buck Bumble.

Buy or Rent?
Though I usually do not say this, I would not want to buy this game, no matter how much an avid N64 player you are. You could find a much better candidate to play, and you would get your money's worth. I do not like this game as much as I though I would. But you might. Maybe It's just me, but I can find no good reason to buy or rent Buck Bumble.

Graphics: 4
Gameplay: 8
Sound: 7
Fun Factor: 5

Reviewer's Score: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/01/02, Updated 05/01/02