"More complex than the average platformer, but has some serious flaws"

The Addams Family from Ocean is based on the kooky comic book, cartoon, TV, and movie characters. It is a hop-and-bop platform game with a little bit of exploration and a little bit of puzzle solving. However, some major flaws bring it down.

Storyline: 5.0
The entire Addams Family has been kidnapped, except for Gomez, the father. He needs to rescue everybody, as well as collect $1 million to pay the ransom for Morticia, his wife. The game takes place in around the Addams mansion. At least it's not quite the same as the save-the-princess-from-an-evil-wizard/gangster/alien routine.

Gameplay: 4.0
Here's where some of the problems begin. The gameplay is standard Mario-style running, jumping, and bopping enemies on the head. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all Gomez can do. There are many enemies in the game, and unlike most video game characters, Gomez doesn't get knocked backwards or receive a moment of invincibility when he gets hit. As long as you physically touch an enemy or obstacle, your life meter gets drained. It's annoying because you can lose half your life or more in a couple of seconds when you mess up. There are also numerous traps in the Addams Family mansion, and many of them come with no warning whatsoever. For example, as soon as you enter the mansion, a chandelier falls on you. In another section, entering a door causes you to fall down a pit and land on spikes at the bottom, causing instant death. This causes much trial-and-error frustration as you have to remember the exact location of traps, and then move precisely to avoid them. Sometimes, it's nearly impossible to avoid being hit. Personally, I think it's lousy game design.

That aside, there are many places to explore in the Addams mansion. (They're all named, too.) Each room has some amount of money and some have puzzles and/or items. You'll have to figure out how to move a ghostly couple from blocking a door, what exactly some of the items are for, and where keys that open some locked doors can be found. It can be interesting and somewhat fun, but the cheap enemies and traps are always there to knock the gameplay down a few rungs.

Control: 3.5
Gomez can basically run, jump, and duck. He's not very fast, but fortunately his jumps handle somewhat precisely. A major problem in this game is the collision detection. You'll swear that you jumped on top of the ghost's head, only to realize that you weren't high enough by a centimeter, causing you to fall through him and lose a third of your life. The same thing happens with platforms sometimes (try the Freezer). It's just frustrating.

Graphics: 5.0
Some of the rooms in the Addams mansion are colorful and interesting. In addition, the backgrounds usually make sense with what room you're in. You'll see some paintings (with moving eyes) in the Gallery, glass windows, long drapes, and a piano in the Ballroom, and various torture devices in Pugsley and Wednesday's rooms. Unfortunately, some of the rooms have plain one-color walls and little decoration. In addition, Gomez has this dopey grin on his face all the time, and he's not proportioned correctly, especially when ducking. I'm all for super-deformed characters and stuff, but this is just silly-looking.

Sound: 3.0
The Addams Family theme song (snap, snap) plays incessantly throughout the game in a fifteen-second loop. You'll reach for that mute button pretty quickly. A couple of other songs are at least decent, however. The only sound effect of note is the annoying high-pitched one that occurs when you get hit.

Challenge: 8.0
Well, the game is pretty difficult (but for many wrong reasons), and exploring and solving puzzles make it somewhat interesting. The mansion isn't super-huge, nor are the puzzles brainbusters, but you'll have enough of a tough time fighting the controls, enemies, and traps.

Replay Value:2.5
I can't really imagine why you'd want to play it again if you manage to complete it. There's only the one quest, no two-player mode, and the game is frustrating enough that you'll probably want to put it away forever once you're done with it.

Overall: 4.0
Not a great action game by any means, it offers some slight redeeming value with the exploration and puzzle aspects. You better be patient though, and if you don't mind trial-and-error memorization of traps, then give it a shot.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/00, Updated 05/03/00