Junkman
Dec 13 2004, 04:49 AM
Game: Cartman's Adventure 1
Creator: Beamer
Genre: Platformer
Description: Help Cartman bust out Dr.Doom and his newly created army of mutants.

Rating: 76%

Review: Here it is. It's the game that started it all.

Beamer has always been well known over the years for his ability to crank games out at an incredible pace, although nowadays he's more known for his platformer series that is Cartman's Adventure. It has always remained a landmark in Beamer's repertoire since all games always proved to be well-done and fun platformers whilst CA2 and CA3 pushed the platformer genre a bit further, ending up being almost epic. They were also packed with loads of secret features as well, especially the recently released CA3 with it's inclusion of bonus games through the whole journey. So, let's go back in time and take a sneak peek at the game which started it all.

Compared to the other Cartman Adventure games, it looks a bit dated by today's standards. However, if we do compare this to most other games of the time it's been released at (in late 2000), it certainly did stood up well. This is a pretty simple, yet highly enjoyable platformer that will have you hopping all around, stomping mutants that have been created by the super villain Dr. Doom. Although it's not the first game that attempts such a formula, Cartman's Adventure is probably the first game to implement a jump and bump platform game which doesn't have a highly buggy or awkward engine, thus not lessening the fun effect like earlier platformer ventures (such as SP Mario) did.

Cartman's Adventure is not a pretty big game, but there's virtually no filler moment within the game at all. It never ever gets boring or tedious and there's usually new enemies introduced there and there to keep things interesting. However, there are no real surprises. Most of the game elements there follow the tried-and-true formula but nothing's really out of place. It's just pretty traditional and basic. For instance, some of the bosses follow a similar pattern and attack in incredibly pretty similar ways. The first two boss fights are almost totally identical; the only real difference about them is the bosses' appearance and a slight change in their movement pattern. Double Bubble does offer a change of pace in the boss battle department and is actually a nice battle. However, Dr. Doom is a way too easy boss and isn't a quite satisfying way to end the game. His first incarnation can be virtually killed with a single stomp and his devilish form is almost as easy to beat as well. This probably is the only mediocre part about the game as the rest do stand out pretty well.

The game's graphics are a bit plain. There's not a lot going in the background details but most of the other graphics do the job. Cartman's running animation looks a little bit awkward since his legs move at an extraordinary speed, yet he walks at a rather average speed. It just seems a little bit silly. Most of the enemies look really plain, although they all are animated and they've all got death animations when they're being killed. Whilst the landscapes look pretty basic, they aren't horrible either. They just don't stand out, though.

In the end, Cartman's Adventure is happy enough to be a well-made and fun to play platformer. It's certainly not flashy and its gameplay is on the easy side, but it's well executed nonetheless and the game certainly has its charm. It's definitely entertaining and it's worth the extremely small download size. The Cartman's Adventure series would get bigger, meaner and more complex, but the series' debut still remains a must-have game. It's good enough to introduce us to the series and it's by far the most accessible of the CA games due to its low challenge (the following games sometimes proved to be incredibly hard in some spots). Check it out.