The Hobbit

"A dull example of mediocrity."

I was looking forward to this game. With the saturation of all the LOTR titles for the various consoles, and with more to come, I thought The Hobbit would be a refreshing change of pace while still delving into the magical and wondrous world of Tolkien's Middle Earth. I was wrong. So very very wrong.

Gameplay: 5 Nothing new or interesting to report. You meet Gandalf, then some dwarves, they tell you what needs to be done next, you do it, then move on to the next linear task. There is no challenge involved in figuring out where to go next; the NPCs hold your hand the entire time. The controls work well enough; directional buttons obediently move Bilbo where you want him to go. The inventory screen's layout is easy to read and navigate through. There is one glaringly annoying thing you should be aware of: if you leave a screen and come back, you will have to fight off the same creatures you just killed and move the same jars out of the way that you just destroyed. I HATE illogical re-spawning of objects, but hey...that's just me.

The battle system is akin to Shining Soul; move close..hit with the B button, move back, repeat until enemy vanquished. *YAWN* There is a slightly more interesting 'charge-up' move if you hold down the B button for 2 seconds...just hope that the enemy is in a direct line from Bilbo, or you'll miss and likely get hit by another creature.

Story: 4 Presented in this less than stellar game is a condensed cliff-notes version of the original story. Some artistic license was used to incorporate some kindergarten-styled puzzles to further drag out your playing experience, so expect a bastardized version of a great tale.

Graphics/Sound: 4 Another area of disappointment. Bilbo's character is devoid of any detail, as are the other NPCs, backgrounds, enemies, etc. I found it hard at times, to distinguish what I was able to interact with on the screen...simply because I couldn't make out what was supposed to be there (Is that a chest, or a shadow?). I've seen better walk/run animations on some NES games. Did the developers only have a 16 color palette to work with? If so...I don't think they used all 16. The environment looks ... in a word: UGLY.

The music is not too shabby; some nice mellow medieval-sounding tunes keep you from bashing your head in frustration from the dull gameplay. The sound effects are adequate, though they're likely recycled from other games (I'm sure I've heard a few before...)

Play Time/Replayability: 3 Too short. Although maybe that's a good thing...I couldn't stomach playing this for more than the 5 or 6 hours required to finish it. As for replayability; I can't see anyone playing through this dullfest more than once. Well, maybe masochists...or prison inmates with this as their only game (wow...now THAT's punishment!)

Recommendation/overall score: 4 If you're a parent with a child under 8 or 9 years old, this may be a good title for the little tots...very low difficulty, easy to learn controls...short length. For all others, I recommend LOTR:TTT.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/03