Futurama

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."

Futurama. Saying the name still sparks off a memory or two about the much loved animated series by the creator's of the Simpsons. Sadly, it was axed during its peak, but it managed to achieve a cult-status before it vanished from our air-ways. Simpson lovers rejoiced everywhere and sat smugly as Homer and Family kept on rolling. Now, Futurama fans are free to relish in the humour, colour and vision of their favourite show with this excellent platforming title.

There's a total of 3 characters to keep you entertained through the game, and you will get the chance to play as each of them as your progress. Thankfully, they're not lame ones who can't jump, but instead, the three main characters: Fry, Bender and Leela. (Dr. Zoidberg: What? No Zoidberg? Mwvroomromoff...*snips claws around*) Don't worry, as the lovable eccentric doctor we all love makes his cameo. What can go wrong with a game with such well-loved characters voiced by the original actors? Only a few things.

The game is divided up into different sections and worlds, where each of the 3 characters have their own unique way of progressing. First off to bat is Fry. Our hero's ability is to shoot, and he's got plenty of enemies to practise on. Battling it out in the depths of New New York, Fry shows off his skills. The shoot-em-up section of the game is really simple and easy to master, combined with the not too challenging enemies and you've got a decent shooter on yours hands. To fire, it's a simple case of selecting a target, locking onto him and firing with a single tap of the A Button. Easy. Plus a nice selection of crazy and novelty weaponry is an added fun bonus.

Now, leaving the shooting part behind, gamers are then placed behind the controls of the sass-talking, badass robot Bender. Bender is your spring-board for this game as this portion makes up the platforming section. It's Bender's job to bound through treacherous chasms and gorges with his agile abilities, so no shooting here. Thanks to another simple control scheme, this platform level is not as tedious as some platformers tend to be, as there is no crazy and awkward camera that spins out of control as you jump that gap. It's solid platforming action, but in comparison to the other two gameplay styles, this is the weaker one.

The third outing is with Leela and boosts a nice Tomb Raider-esque feel to it, with some puzzles thrown in for good measure. If you combine all of these 3 genres together, you've got a damn good game. Usually, "total" platformers end up failing badly. Sometimes, "total" shooters fail badly. Futurama doesn't. It combines them all and it even does it all with an awesome array of characters and style. Awesome.

So, I'd have to tell you to rent this comedy-fest and sit back and laugh, since games like this rarely come around...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/05