"Shiny manages to make Earthworm Jim look stupid compared to this game, and that's a good thing."

Shiny loves cranking out the hits, and MDK does not disappoint. Filled with strange (but funny) humor, cool music, great sound effects, and some of the craziest visuals ever, this game should be on everyone's playlists. Although you don't really need to understand the story to have fun, here goes: You are Kurt, the sidekick of Dr. Fluke Hawkins. The good doctor is trying to study a source of energy that he hopes will get him some scholarly recognition someday. During this time he builds a servant bot, a robot dog with 4 arms and a higher IQ than either of you combined. As the research continues, Dr. Hawkins discovers a strange energy beam that seems to hop from planet to planet. As it draws near Earth, he realizes that some evil alien force rides these beams, and moves locust-style from planet to planet clear-cutting every resource from the surface of each. Now, the aliens and their city-sized bulldozers are trying to mow down some of the most popular cities (like Laguna Beach, Sparrowhawk, and other assorted no name towns...get the joke?). Since you had proved to be the most heroic and athletic of the three 'good guys,' you were elected to wear a special body suit equipped with the latest alien-exploding techonolgy and destroy the dozers before they utterly destroy the planet. Of course, this means dropping from outer space to a large, hard target 15 miles wide, but now's not the time to worry about every detail! The world is counting on you.

GRAPHICS: 9
Graphics are clean, clear, and often times hilarious. The aliens look really stupid and brainless, which is the whole point. The bosses (esp. Level 2's) are exceptionally well-done and in some cases very strange looking (esp. Level 2's). The Kurt character looks like he belongs in some comic book, with a nifty black suit and very large hand-mounted handgun.

SOUND: 9
Great sound effects. The villians scream gibberish when they spot you, talk amongst themselves when they don't, and scream piteously when injured. Very funny sound effects occur when you ride a plane-like ship that lifts over various targets and you can drop bombs on them. The enemies cower and scream hilariously when hit. All the various items you can pick up make weird sounds, like the twister powerup.

CONTROL: 8
Kurt has a lot of controls, and they can take some time to sort out. However, they are absolutely fantastic when the initial first steps are learned. You can sidestep, zoom in and out with a sniper rifle, jump and parachute down, and even launch decoy versions of yourself (that look rather pitiful compared to the real you; just goes to show how stupid the aliens are).

GAMEPLAY: 9
Shiny loves making games with a smart-ass (and dark) sense of humor, and this game is no exception. Sure, there are many instances where the game is simply cool and intense, but most of it is made of generally dumb aliens that continously get shot, blown up, and otherwise get utterly erased from existence by your crafty weapons and maneuvers. Watch as you flip switches and launch cows from Earthworm Jim onto large and blissfully unsuspecting alien drone guns. See as they marvel at the wonders of the World's Most Interesting Bomb before it opens and splatters them all across the walls.

And the fun doesn't end there. Constant new weapons are dropped all the time, from the World's Smallest Nuclear Explosion to the Giant Hammer, each of which is useful at different times. You also can muster a Sniper Cannon with varying types of ammo that can be used in various ways:mortars are affected by gravity and won't explode until they've hit something dangerously unstable, sniper grenades cause great damage from afar, etc. You also have a ribbon parachute, that not only allows you to fall great distances but also can cause lift when opened over an air current in the floor. Great for hovering and taking out enemies before they even know you're there.

But what's not to like about the game? How about a time limit? That's right, you only get a limited amount of time before each city is crushed. You can continue the level, but you don't get the good bonuses and such (there might be a 'bad' ending to the game of you don't do it right. I've never seen one so I don't know). The time limit goes lower and lower at harder difficulty levels, but it is possible to win even on the hardest setting, which is good. One last thing before I wrap up: the PC version comes with a great booklet. The Playstation version has a shortened version, but don't fall for it: the lengthy one has some fantastic jokes in it that aren't in the shortened one. The booklet is the journal of the doctor, and discusses his research, inventions, Kurt's heroic battle with a possessed coffee machine, and mission details. My favorite line comes from the discussion of the face-mounted sniper gun. The sentence begins, "Once you lock it into position," and then a scratched off line after it reads, "you begin the slow process of self-asphyxiation." Really makes you trust this guy, doesn't it?

So, if you liked Earthworm Jim and Wild 9, you'll love MDK. It may sound like I described a lot of features in the game above, but I've left out a good 90% of what makes the game so fun to play. There really is that much stuff to laugh at. So what are you waiting for? Go out and buy a copy of it! And tell 'em I sent you! It won't get you a discount, but it will make me feel appreciated! ;-)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99