Pandemonium!

"A simple, cartoony classic!"

Pandemonium! was one of the earlier Playstation games and is still one of my favorites. It plays and feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. It's attraction lies not only in it's simplicity, which makes it easily replayable, but in the world and characters it fleshes out as well as its sense of humor.

Since most reviewers rely on a scale of 1-10, I might as well do the same with 5 being average.

Story--5

Reading the background in the instruction manual is part of the fun. But if you don't have it, don't sweat it. Basically a carnival or something similar is in town. Out of boredom a jester named Fargus with a talking puppet and an acrobat named Nikki sneak away from the festivities and steal a powerful magic book. They accidently summon a huge monster that they have to unsummon, and the only way to reverse the spell is to get a wish from the Wishing Engine (I believe it's called that). The game is their quest through numerous levels to get to that place.

Gameplay--8

The game is often described by others as being 2.5D, which basically means it looks and feels 3D but plays more like a platform or sidescroller. The levels are cleverly designed so it never feels like a sidescroller--the 3D illusion is well made. You can switch between Nikki and Fargus. Unfortunately the character balance isn't as good as it should be. Though Fargus has his uses, gameplay clearly favors Nikki, who has the power to double jump--a more useful ability than Fargus's roll attack. Still, there's something fun about playing a grinning jester in high top sneakers.

Aside from jumping on enemies you can also attain power ups to shoot ice or magic beams. An added feature is the ability at times to transform into different animals such as a dragon and turtle and use the skills acquired in these forms.

Audio/Visual--9

The graphics in the game are bright and certain levels are purely beautiful, especially the cloud levels. Everything has nice clear, crisp look except for the background, but even the haze in those parts seems natural. The levels come in ''sections'' with a boss at each end, but they are mostly unique from one another so the environment never gets tiresome. You travel through places such as a countryside, caves and in clouds.
As for the music, I truly wish they had soundtrack for this. The soundtrack is diverse with a new selection for each level and some of the tracks are quite fun and memorable, similar in composition to something in a Donkey Kong game. I never found the music annoying and it complements the game well. The only repetitive track I can think of is the boss theme, but this is nothing new for a game.

Replayability--5

There's not much to go looking for after toy beat the game. Your life meter is measured in a number of hearts which you can increase by finding secret ones through out the game. With the codes or without them, this isn't really a great feature to replay the game. I find myself playing it over again simply because I think it's fun and I love the characters.

Side Notes

Humor--This is the one of the games appeal. Though it's squeaky clean and may seem childish, I still it find amusing and think adults can enjoy it as well (pay attention or you'll miss a clever remark by Fargus in the opening scene). It also manifests itself throughout the game through the enemies.

Ending--I think this is a category that should be covered in reviews. It's worth it in this game though it lasts a few minutes. The details wrap up the story and present us with more humor.

Buy or Rent?

If you like platform or sidescrollers and don't have a fear of heights ;) then definitely get this one, especially since you should be able to get it cheap. It doesn't have the depth games like FF have, but that's part of it's appeal; you don't have to dedicate hours when you need a quick gaming fix. The game has a password feature and could be beaten in one sitting, but it should at least take you several hours first time through.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/18/02, Updated 01/20/03