"Good, solid gameplay... check it out!"

OK, we can all admit that the movie Home Alone 2 was pretty funny when we first saw it. The nutty action is brought to life with the SNES game "Home Alone 2" by THQ. At first glance, this is just another one of your average, dorky platform games with no point and absolutely no challenge. Well, that's not at all what this game is! Home Alone 2 has solid play control, and a challenge that will make you want to say "just one more try"... a million times.

The game starts out in the hotel. There are tons of rooms to enter where you can get big prizes if you can dodge or defeat an enemy or two inside. The hotel itself is rather straightforward, and it's not difficult to find the final area of the level... although it can be fun to cruise to several floors and raid people's hotel rooms. :) The end of this level calls you to go down to the kitchen on the...um...negative 16th floor to defeat the bosses there.

The next level, Central Park, is no walk in the park, but you can get through it in a couple of tries.

My favortie level is the Uncle's House. This is the spot where you can hit Harry and Marv with irons, bags of flour, or whatever else is handy. You have to figure out how to work the puzzle in each room to hurt the bad guys, and you'll get a key to the next room if you do. Once you've done all the rooms, you end up on top of the building, and in the next level...

...the Streets of New York. This is very difficult, and it can be beaten. When you get to the top of the tree in Rockefeller Center, a really cool ending sequence plays.

Graphics--The graphics are just over average for a game of this genre. There is a surprisingly high level of detail. You can clearly see everything, and it's especially cool when you use the "Super Flying Fist", a rare weapon that scrolls 2 ½ screens ahead, killing everything in its path! Graphics score a 7.5.

Play Control--The controls are very intuitive and solid. You will like the way you can jump right in without even reading the instructions! Play Control receives a 9.0.

Replay Value--For a side scroller, the game is HUGE! Even if you beat it, there are still probably tons of rooms in the hotel to explore, as well as secrets in the other levels that you probably had no idea existed! I'm giving Replay Value an 8.7.

Music & Sound--The sound effects are kooky, but cool! The music is, well, fitting. And it changes very often. Music gets a 7.2.

Challenge--As stated before, this is one of those games that is not "challenging" because of play control, but "challenging" in a way that won't get you frustrated, but will keep you coming back for more. The challenge rates a 9.2.

Overall--Taking into account all of the things mentioned above (and more), Home Alone 2 receives an overall rating of 7.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99