Under the Skin

"NEWS FLASH…. aliens have crash-landed on Earth!"

He's blue, three years old, and he's on his way to earth to make a name for himself.
Yes folks I'm talking about Kozumi the funky prankster alien set lose by the creator of Viewtiful Joe, Hiroyuki Kobayshi and Capcom's Production Studio 4.

Kozumi is an alien from a race known as the Meiwaku Sejins. This race of inter-galactic aliens leave home at the age of three and travel around the universe looking for planets that are ripe for the picking. No we're not talking about all out invasion here but rather a chance to cause a little chaos among the locals and earn themselves the title of Superstar Prankster. Now it's our little blue friends turn. He has set his sights on the one planet that nobody has been game to take on…. Earth. If he can pull this off he will be the greatest Meiwaku Seijin Prankster Hero of all time. Now, if he can only just learn to dodge satellites.

Game Play:
Once you've selected your difficulty setting, attended a tutorial by Choro, Kazumi's mentor and master in the arts of practical jokes and pranks and done a little extra training in the dojo, its time to get down to business. Your first task is to use your ray gun and zap some poor unsuspecting local, taking any bits and pieces they may have and stealing their identity. The last thing you want is to be running around as your true self. Disguised, equipped, and ready to go. Punch, zap, squash, snap pictures of, shoot, crush, torture with thumb tacks, toss cream pies at, set dogs and sharks on, or just blow up with a firecracker bomb as many Earthlings as you can. Each stage has a set time limit. So make sure to grab as many coins as possible. But be careful what comes around goes around. The locals soon form into angry mobs and try to chase you down. If they succeed you lose your clever alien's alien disguise along with some of your hard earned loose change. Every stage has it's own *Panic Time* which varies from cars speeding around the streets to pirates shooting canon balls at you. So watch out for this or you may soon find yourself running about half naked with no money.

Graphics/Sound:
Production Studio 4 could not have picked a better theme song for this game. ‘The Little Green Bag' by the George Baker Selection is one that you'll recognize straight away form Quentin Tarantino's hit Reservoir Dogs. This one will be playing around in your head long after your done. The cel-shading in this game is smooth and full of color, bringing the game to life and adding to the great comical character designs. No problems with slowdown as you might expect with a game as full of activity as this one. Furthermore the third-person camera angle works well giving the player the ideal field of view in which to either hunt down their next victim or the closest UFO for a swift change of disguise. Scan the irate crowds and you'll all ways stumble on something new. You may even bump into a few recognizable faces. Check out Bio-land for some fan boy pleasing guest appearances.

Longevity:
There are only eight stages in this game so that on easy mode you can whip through in no time at all. But don't despair the normal mode is a little more tricky. Unlock the extra characters and bonuses then drag a friend in on the anarchy in two-player mode. If you go through on the easier setting you can increase the number of alien characters to bring into play. You and your friends will have hours of fun not only driving the unfortunate Earthlings crazy but each other as well. This game is not going to be a dust collector in your collection.

Overall:
On the whole a well put together little game. Rent it, buy it, borrow it, or steal it. Do what you must but check it out. You won't regret it.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10
Game Play: 7/10
Graphic/Sound: 7/10
Longevity: 7/10

Overall: 7/10 (thumbs up!)

Enjoy!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/04