SkullMonkeys

"A Big Ball Of Wackiness"

The platform adventure game is one of the grand old staples of electronic entertainment. For whatever reasons, there seems to be endless enjoyment in guiding your little character as he or she collects items, jumps on monsters, and makes seemingly-impossible leaps onto little platforms and ledges. Mario is probably the reigning champion of the genre, but there's always someone gunning for his title.

One of the more unique challengers is 'Skull Monkeys,' a game which is an odd blend of imaginative concepts and rather rote game play. The game mechanics - which depend heavily on well-timed jumps and monster-dodging - are older than dirt, but the high challenge rating and amusing sights and sounds will keep you playing for a while. Any gamer with tastes that bend towards the Wacky end of the spectrum should definitely give this game a spin or three.

The plot is irrelevant, as always, but here's a quick summary. A nasty little villain has taken control of the Skull Monkeys, and is using them to build the Evil Engine Number Nine, which he will use to destroy the Neverhood. Why, you ask? Ummm.... well.... because he's a villain, I guess. Anyhow, the Neverhood's finest resident, Klaymen, is summoned to stop the evil plan and save his home.

As mentioned earlier, the game play itself is almost strictly platform vanilla. You can hop on the heads of most of the game's monsters to destroy them, or you can dust them off with green bullets. When you're not battling critters, you're making a series of difficult jumps, which will result in certain death unless perfect timing is utilized. (Said death can come at the hands of either a pit or nearby beasties.) The game seems to love dangerous leaps and jumps, and these might frustrate a lot of players who don't have great patience for platform games. Thankfully, there are a lot of save points throughout each level to keep you from having to replay any tricky jumps you've already made.

To keep things interesting, there are some items scattered throughout the game to help you out. One item allows you (I swear I'm not making this up!) to fart a clone of yourself from your head. You can then control the clone, and if he dies, the game zips back to your regular body, which is unharmed. This is a great way to scout ahead, or to attempt a dangerous leap without wasting one of your extra lives. There's also a Universe Enema item (so very tasteful!) that wipes out (sorry) all of the enemies on the screen. There are a few other toys for Klaymen to use, but he'll spend most of his time running and jumping (or falling, as it turns out).

One of the game's drawbacks is the lack of variety in the enemies department. The Skull Monkeys themselves are funny, but the game has far too many generic insect-type critters and such. For a game like this, the monsters had to be a lot less like the enemies in 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' and much more like the baddies in the 'Toejam and Earl' games.

The graphics are great for a 2D platforming title, and they're done using clay-mation, which is a nice change of pace from the bright cartoon colors of most adventure games. Enemies (and Klaymen, too) burst into a delightful shower of clay bits when destroyed, and there are great little graphical touches throughout the game. (Including some wonderfully disgusting sights in the Hot Dog Factory level.) There are also a bunch of terrific little clay cartoon scenes throughout the game, which are amazing to look at and hilarious to boot. A few are definitely of the 'show them to your friends!' caliber.

'Skull Monkeys' has a wide variety of music, and most of it is fun and catchy. Top honors, however, goes to the song played during the bonus rooms, which you and your friends will be singing for a week after you first hear it. It's an extremely funny and catchy song, made all the funnier since it's being sung by a folk-singer type with an acoustic guitar. Great stuff. The sound effects are also well-above average, full of fun and personality. I especially love it when a little voice says 'Secret!' when you enter a secret passage.

'Skull Monkeys' is a challenging but fairly pedestrian platform game, redeemed by some great sound effects, funny visuals, hilarious clay-mation cartoons, and a classic bonus room theme. It may not be the tightest and most engrossing platforming experience, but it has those little moments you'll remember rather fondly. If you're an adventure game fan with an odd sense of humor, definitely give 'Skull Monkeys' a try.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/01, Updated 07/26/01