He-Man: Power of Grayskull

"What have they done to you?"

My oh my, I didn't know what I got when I popped this unworthy game into my GBA. I liked the 80's version of He-Man ( never got around to watching the new one ), and I thought that this game could do the series justice. Boy, was I wrong...

Sadly, the game is too jumpy to play. Just the slightest dirt falling off the side of a cliff sends He-Man to the grave. He-Man walks as if he got something shoved up his ass and you will die most of the time just because you can't see the separation from the edge of the cliff and a pit. Standard, beautifully drawn enemies will beat down the Master of the Universe because your sword will pass through them most of the time and a hit will leave He-Man vulnerable to hits for seconds. There are 13 levels in this game and there is not much good or fun in any of them. Around the 6th level you will begin to notice the monotony. I guess the developers noticed it too and put in different things, but it's just as bad, since you can't see things until it's bigger than you. You will be running in to wall after wall after wall after wall.

There is no link play, so you will have to play through this borefest by yourself and the audio is horrible. The only thing worth listening to is...by the power of grayskull... but you could buy an audio tape and do that.
The cut scenes are beautifully illustrated, but you can watch the TV show. You get a free comic with the game, but only little kids will actually like it. The controls are basic, but there are no mind-blowing moves. Why I gave it such a high rating is because the control is easy to memorize and works on your touch and doesn't have delayed reactions. I didn't give it a 9/10 is because you have to time your jumps or you won't make it across chasms. The game also has annoying tendencies to throw you off edges even if you made it to the other side.

Overall this was a rushed attempt at a game, although there are some good points to it. If you want a decent game, pick up one of the Mario games, Fire Emblem, or Metroid Fusion. This isn't worthy of your attention or your money.

Sound 3/10
Control 8/10
Gameplay 1/10
Replay Value 1/10
Overall 3/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/04