The Lawnmower Man

"An Ok Game for a platformer fan...."

This game is one of the oddest combinations I've ever seen. The whole game is composed of 2 parts- a platformer, and a 3-D ''mode seven'' first-person flying game.

Gameplay: 5/10 (for the platformer part), 4/10 (for the mode 7 game)

The platformer part is ok, and plays sort of like Contra, where you go around shooting stuff, picking up bigger weapons, and using said weapons to shoot bigger stuff. The levels are quite short,and their only purpose is seemingly to get you to a portal at the end of the level, which leads you to the Mode 7 game, which ends, depositing you at yet another platformer.

When you start seeing the mode seven portion, however, the game goes downhill rapidly until the next platformer part. The mode 7 game involves shooting at wireframe enemies without crashing into a wall or being shot by the enemy wireframes. Not much of a gameplay rating here, that's for sure. And also, the enemies, even in the last few levels, have the worst AI ever. Their shots are ALWAYS off target, and I don't think that the entire time I've played that I've ever wound up being hit by the enemy bullets. The only semi-hard part is the second type of level, where you can actually see the ship, but you have to dodge walls and pillars popping up and shoot at the occasional door to open it.

Control: 8/10
I have absolutely no qualms with the controls. For the platformer, the controls are Contra-style, where in the mode 7 shooter they are more like the controls from Starfox.

Sound: 2/10
The sounds are nothing more than the occasional explosion and/or laser/bullet sound. Nothing more.

Graphics: 5/10 Platformer, 4/10 Mode 7

The platformer's graphics are pretty much the same as Contra's, and do a decent job with the backgrounds and many of the tanks/mechanical stuff. But the sprites for the people, both your character and the enemy, are quite blocky.

Graphics on the mode 7 portion are horrible. The wireframe layout can be extremely annoying when you are trying to decide ''Is that a wall, or a door, or what?''. The enemies are basically cubes that fire smaller cubes at you. Or maybe those are miniature walls.....

Replayability: 4/10
I will probably never replay this game, but if you really want to go through the horrible, horrible mode 7 levels again, be my guest.

Buy/Rent: Rent if you can, seeing as this game isn't seemingly that popular. Otherwise scout the bargain bins for it.

Come for the platformer, stay away from the mode 7. That's about it.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/02, Updated 10/26/02