Pinobee: Wings of Adventure

"I got this game with high hopes, and they were stung worse than a bee."

I like video games. I do. And when I read about a game, that sounds good, I get high hopes. But this game was sorely below my expectations.

I don't want to just come out and say I hate this game. That is simply not true. There were just too many things that I found wrong with this game. I could not find it enjoyable.

I bought this game, and it did not come with an instruction booklet, which may be why I am so confused about the plot of the game.

PLOT: 5/10
It was just confusing. It was told through journal entries made by the main character (a bee), and they did little to move along the plot of the game. One entry could be summed up in one sentence: ''I ran into a grasshopper today, and I stung him and I could not kill a golden bug''. I hoped that the plot of the game would become slightly more lurid as I progressed in the game, but it just seemed that the bee's ability to write just went downhill. It was as if he was de-evolutionizing before my eyes. Maybe the little jet bursts that lady gave him seem to have an effect on his brain.

CONTROLS: 9/10
I found that one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game was it's incredible control scheme. There was a very original jumping system included, and defeating enemies was a breeze. But sometimes the collision detection got a little glitchy, and that was just a turn off for me. I would end up running into enemies when I was trying to sting them, or stinging a grasshopper while trying mereley to stand by him.

SOUND: 6/10
What can I expect from a GBA game? There were beeps and boops, bells and whistles, but not a lot more. I found the sound to be very disappointing. However, it did utilize the sound system on a GBA, but not to the fullest of it's abilities.

DIFFICULTY: 5/10
This game, simply put, was far too easy. I got through the entire game in a 3 days. This game will do nothing to hold the players attention. All in all, an experienced gamer will find this game way to easy, while a newbie will find the learning curve to be a little steep.

OVERALL: 6/10
It could have been much better than the way it turned out. But it is an ''ok'' game, but not for the pros out there.

BOTTOM LINE:
Might be worth renting/borrowing, but if you had high hopes for this game, you will get stung.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/02, Updated 06/27/02