Worms Armageddon

"Everyone's favorite worms appear on the G.B.C."

When I purchased Worms, I was a bit aprehensive, I didn't know if the Game Boy translation would mean watered down gameplay, but fortunatly it didn't. I stumbled across one of the better titles available for the Game Boy Color (G.B.C.).
Now where to start... The graphics are good but not stellar. The GBC handls the color well, but some effects are missing (like smoke trails, and most importantly, explosions). However the backgrounds are vibrant and well done, kudos to Infogrames for programming such a nice RANDOM level generator, and also the worms are well animated, almost as well as their N64 counterparts.

The sound is pretty good but nothing great, the squeaky voices of the worms were unfortunatly omitted(but maybe that's not such a bad thing, have you ever heard voices on the GBC? They sound like crap), also the explosions are not as good as the console system versions. However, they did get the dynamite to sound like dynamite, and the music is pretty catchy.

The control is the very core of any Worms game and this is no exeption, Infogrames did a marvelous job of bringing the impeccable control of the console versions to the GBC, every button on the GBC is used, and amazingly, not a single control feature was lost in the translation. The control scheme is very easy to use, and if you've ever played any worms game you can jump right in without a good read of the manual.

''Now that's all fine and dandy'' you say, but how fun is it? Worms Armageddon is a blast, but you should really play against a person because the A.I. is officially brain-damaged; I once witnessed two ENEMY worms on the same team try(and succeed) to kill each-other! Also the weapon selection has sadly been shortened drasticly from the console versions, there's no ninja rope, no Mad Cows, no Homing Missle, and *gasp!* no Holy Hand Grenade!! I would have rather had less background themes to choose from, than have these classics omitted from the Holy Weapons Locker!!! However, the selection given is adequate, and some weapons I frankly don't miss at all(like the uzi). Infogrames says that Worms Armageddon is only two player, but they so kindly included certain time options, etc., that up to EIGHT PLAYERS can duke it out using one GBC and hot-potatoing it back, and forth. However, strangly enough there is no link cable option, now, don't get me wrong, there are times when one GBC is better than two, but the option should NOT have been left out.

Graphics: (7/10) Nice and colorful, but where, oh where are the explosions? Nice worm animations too.

Sound: (7/10) Catchy tunes, and decent explosions, but I want to hear my worm say to his attacker ''I'll kick your ass!'' (that quote was from the N64 version)

Control: (10/10) The control is more solid than a Christmas fruitcake(you know, the ones that your grandma always sends...), and easy as pie to learn.

Fun Factor: (7/10) This game is a blast to play with friends on a long flight, or road trip. However the omission of important tools and weapons, and the complete lack of a link cable option keep this from a perfect score. Also, the mentally retarded A.I. doesn't help matters either.

And the final verdict? Worms is one of the GBC's better titles, but with a little more polish it would have been a classic. If you have a GBC get a copy now.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/22/00, Updated 06/22/00