Vanark

"It's not Starfox, but it's as close as you can get on the Playstation."

Vanark is a shooter similar to Star Fox that was released for the Playstation about a year ago. You control a few different vehicles through seven levels, blowing up everything in your path and then taking out a boss at the end of each level. Does Vanark give Playstation owners something that compares to Star Fox? Read on…

Story: 5/10

As with nearly every other game of this genre, you are part of a small squad of fighters sent to save the planet, in this case, Mars. A nuclear explosion has destroyed Earth, so humanity has begun to change Mars’ environment to make it suitable for living. Unfortunately, the viruses that were sent to do just that have mutated to create monsters that are larger than even the dinosaurs were. Your mission is to figure out what went wrong and fix it. By this, I mean, fly through each level and blow up everything you see. The story, while not terribly creative, isn’t all that bad. The problem is actually getting to read the rest of it. When you are being briefed for a mission, the text comes up on the screen very slowly. Most games will allow you to speed this up by simply pressing a button. Vanark, however, simply takes this a sign that you don’t care about the story and simply skips the rest. This is really annoying, because you have no idea why you are doing the next mission. BEGIN SPOILER: The game does try to get emotional at times, like when your navigation pilot sacrifices himself for you. This probably would have worked…if he weren’t a robot. I don’t think I would feel to bad about losing a robot, but that’s just me. END SPOILER.

Graphics: 7/10

Vanark’s graphics do the job, but the Playstation hardware is really showing its age. There aren’t a whole lot of special effects, but the environments are nicely detailed, if a bit grainy. Some levels really look great, such as the first level. The water effects look amazing. Other levels, however, look pretty bland. There is a lot happening on screen and because there isn’t a whole lot of color, it can be difficult to see approaching enemies. In fact, most of the time, I was only able to kill something because my weapons locked onto it, I couldn’t even see it.

On a higher note, the FMV sequences are very nice. While not even close to Final Fantasy IX, they are very well drawn. It’s nice to see that Jaleco spent some time making them, when they very easily could have just used the in-game graphics.

Sound: 5/10

When it comes to music, I usually don’t take much note of it unless it is really good or really bad. Vanark’s is neither. While it isn’t bad, it isn’t very memorable. The sound effects are kind of on the weak side. When I blow something up, I want to hear the explosion. Instead, you are given a little bit of rumbling.

Control: 8/10

The controls are very simple, yet pretty effective. One button fires your main weapon, another fires your homing weapon. The shoulder buttons give the ability to slow down or speed up and the ship is moved around with he analog stick or D-pad. I highly recommend using the analog stick as it offers much smoother targeting. The only real complaint I have about the ship controls is that you cannot roll or use any kind of maneuver to avoid enemy fire. Because five of the seven levels you are on “rails”, so to speak, it isn’t a big deal. But the two levels you are given free flight in space it becomes a bit of a problem. There were a few instances when I would have given anything for Starfox’s loop move (you would use it when being tailed and end up behind them). Another problem occurs when you have to evade incoming obstacles. Because the path you are forced to follow is predetermined, you will often try to swerve to the right to avoid a pillar, only to find that the game won’t let you fly any farther to the right, ramming you right into it. This is especially a problem on the very last stage, where you are forced to fly through a narrow tunnel. It can be difficult to tell where you need to fly.

Between missions you have to walk around your base on foot. For some reason, the designers decided to use the Resident Evil-style control, which I have decided is the worst control scheme ever created. It makes walking around and opening doors much more difficult than it needs to be.

Gameplay: 8/10

Despite all of the problems mentioned above, the game really is a lot of fun to play. There may not be much strategy involved, but flying through levels at break-neck speed while blowing up everything that moves is pretty fun. My favorite levels are the ones that take place in space. One such level has you flying around an enemy base. Your buddies try to hold off the enemy ships while you take out the base itself. The bosses can get pretty cheap, but they are still fun. You are given five chances to beat each level, so you shouldn’t find yourself reloading your last save very often. After each level, you are presented with new weapons, depending on how well you performed. One aspect of the game they should have left out is the walking around your base between levels. It usually involves running around talking to everyone until someone will give you the information you need to proceed to the next level. It is quite boring and slows down an otherwise intense game.

The game is pretty short, having only seven levels. Once you finish the game, you are able to go back to each mission and try to get a better ranking, but there isn’t much incentive to do so.

Conclusion: 7/10

While not as good as the offerings on Nintendo 64, Vanark gives Playstation owners a chance to experience some great shooting action. For ten dollars, you won’t regret the purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/02, Updated 01/09/02