Voodoo Vince

"Original, stylish, humorful, and most importantly, FUN."

When I first heard about Voodoo Vince I was a tad bit skeptical, a first time developer was making the game, the design seemed kinda bland from the screen shots, and it sounded a little confusing.

Well not here we are months later and the game is out. Since I'm a huge fan of platformers, I was obligated to at least give this game a chance. Now I'll be honest, my expectations were very low. But I'll assure you, the game is as fun as they can get. It borrows a lot from all the tried and true mechanics, which isn't a bad thing. The death powers are very cool, and come in handy when you're low on health. It's a very polished product and without a doubt it's one of the better platformers this generation.

Graphics: 9/10

Wow, that's really all you can say when you're marveling at the extremely well done textures and level design, it's such a beautiful game, the animation is great, the lighting, the smoke, fire, it's all very very pretty.

Sound: 10/10

Now here is where the game truly stands out. The music is superb, a mixture of a movie-like soundtrack with some New Orleans mixed into the bunch. It's really easy on the ears, hell, the loading screen music even has a certain charm to it. The voice acting is top notch, the voice for Vince is perfect for his role, the game just wouldn't be funny or match his personality without that voice. There's only really one real gripe I have with the voice acting, and it's Kosmo's voice. He sounds very fruity, I'm almost convinced his voice is done by Screech from Saved by the Bell...almost..

Gameplay: 9/10

Like I mentioned above, the game has very polished play mechanics and control, it's only drawback is it's camera, it's not horrible, but there are times where it's a real pain to adjust to a good position. Even so, it doesn't keep Vince from being a total blast to play. The controls are so easy to pick up and get into, because Voodoo Vince uses many of the platforming ''cliches,'' I don't think that's really a bad thing, I felt right at home when I first picked up the controller and started playing. Some examples would be the double jump, the spin attack in Crash Bandicoot, the pile drive into the ground attack from Mario 64 or Jak and Daxter, so on so fourth. The A button makes Vince jump and a double jump is performed when it's pressed twice. B is his spin attack, and X is his primary attack (which strings out into a 3 hit combo if you hit the button rapidly), also to activate switches and other things. Y is used to pick up special items that are required to solve puzzles in that area of the game, holding the L trigger while in the air makes Vince hover to the ground, it makes it easier to make difficult jumps or land on very thin platforms. Finally, the black button brings it into first person so you can look around your surroundings. There are also a few extra skills you'll acquire through the game, like the hook shot item, and a skill that allows you to see items through walls and find secrets.

Overall: 9/10

Overall I'm very happy I gave Voodoo Vince a try, it's a very exciting and fun-filled experience while it lasts, one that will most likely make players want play it through more than once. The music is fantastic, the gameplay is tight, it has some laughs, and the graphics are eye-candy. I think it's safe to recommend this one as a purchase to anyone who's a fan of platformers, this is definitely one of the best the genre has to offer.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/03