September 19, 2001
BoneStormer

Ooga Booga (DC)

Visual Concepts made a name for themselves with the excellent NFL2K series, and to a lesser extent the NBA2K series. The talk around town was that VC was the next big developer, and so Sega had VC branch out. WSB2K2 is vastly improved over WSB2K1, but is quite obviously VC's first baseball game. Then Floigan Brothers was meet with less then stellar reviews. Now comes Ooga Booga, a tribal themed multi-player battle game. Three things about this game created a buzz. First, it's another online game. Second, the developers were quoted as saying that Smash Bros. was part of the inspiration behind it. Third, it was being developed by these mighty Visual Concepts. Now that it's here, has VC hit upon another DC great?

Gameplay is simple. You are thrown on a small island with a number of other 'natives' called Kahunas. Your goal, score the most points. You score points by hitting your opponents, and depending on the method you use to hit them, the number of points you get varies (1-3). From simply bashing your opponent over the head, to casting spells, there are plenty of different methods to use, and in here lies the fun (and strategy) of the game. The basic attack is picking up shrunken voodoo heads that fall from trees (duh!) and chucking them at your enemies for one point a hit or whacking them with your stick for 2 points. Spells also randomly appear throughout the level and include fireballs (2 points), lightening (1 point), and mines (2 points). I love hitting someone with a fireball to see their pants catch on fire causing them to run around like a fool until they jump in the water to put it out. Still the most fun (and most useful) are the animals you can use. You can hang onto a bird and fly above the level dropping 1 point bombs, but even better you can ride a bore and ram your opponents for 2. There are also a few powerful cataclysms (like tornadoes) and tiki statues (like a stationary gun turret) that you can use too. Learning how to use all these attacks at the right time and in the right combinations is where all the little nuances of this game lie. You must master this to master the game. Example, if you shoot lightning at a group, the bolt will 'bounce' back and forth hitting them all multiple times. However, there are a lot of 'cheap' attacks including juggling combos in corners (especially with bores) and repeatedly attacking someone as they are swimming to shore after being thrown off the island.

There are more game modes then just plain battle. There is a Rodeo mode in which you can only score points when on a bore. There is also a Bore Polo mode which is something completely different, and a whole lot of fun. You are put into an arena with 2 teams and with a goal on each end. Your 'goal' is to push a large boulder into your opponent's goal. Easier said then done sometimes. Partially due to the controls, it can be frustrating at times to get that boulder where you want it. A few times it was sitting right in front of the opponents goal and when I hit it instead of going where I hoped (through the goal), it veered off to the side. Using bores to push the boulder is the fastest/best way to score, but you have to use all your attacks to succeed (especially for defense against an attacking bore).

The islands vary in their layout, but many feel very similar. There are the basic 'deserted' island type, a volcanic type, and a native village/fort type for a total of 12 (plus 2 polo levels). It would of been nice to have seen more interaction with the levels themselves, but the terrain still plays a major part in your gameplan. They also very in size, but none are very big or else the fast paced action would slow down too much. You start with 4 characters/tribes to pick from: Hottie, Fatty, Hoodoo, and Twitchy. Plus you can unlock more characters (7 more). These tribes very in speed, strength, endurance, the number of voodoo heads they can hold, and persona;). It would of been nice if each character had their own 'special' attack though.

In order to gain more spells, game modes, levels, and characters; you have to play through Tribal Trial, the heart of the offline 1-player game. Think of this like a 'mission mode' with over 40 levels grouped together in packs of 1-4 levels. Most levels are pretty easy, but then there are those tough as nails 3-on-1 levels... (Protip: Try and get a nice lead and set-up tikis, then hide in the water or on a bird till time runs out.) It can be fun, but since the point of this mode is to introduce you to the game, once beaten you won't return. You can also unlock new masks by playing the multi-player modes (off and online, Smakahuna and Polo).

The control of this game is pretty good, but it's not perfect. It's simple and pretty solid, but so often I find it difficult to aim where I want to. You can hold down fire to aim your shot with the analog stick, but you better do that fast or your dead. The real problem I have is with the camera. You can control it completely manually with L/R or have it so L/R makes the camera jump forward. Sounds like it should work, but often it will frustrate you when it turns too slow. It can affect your aim, or even make you lose your bearings and your opponent's location while you try and straighten the camera angle. You'll often be hit by someone you can't see:( Yet once you get used to it all, it works fine.

The graphics in this game are good, but not great. They move by at a high framerate (close to 60fps) with no slow-down or pop-up in sight. Objects are bright and colorful, but they are also very simplistic. There just isn't much detail to anything in this game. Not much 'flair' or excitement to them at all. Even the spells are plain looking. This was probably done to give the game more of a cartoonish feel and to keep the framerate high. The character's themselves look decent with nice animations, it's just the surroundings that are boring. Sound does a much better job of conveying the tribal theme. From beating drums to the start horn (that seems to be taken directly from "Survivor"), it's all stereotypic 'tribal' noises. The characters also have a few cool voices they throw out now and then, some funnier then others (especially the hidden characters:). A nice touch.

The best part of this game is it's multi-player features. DC even with its 4 controller ports doesn't have many good 4 player offline games (if any in fact). Ooga Booga might be the best. There are plenty of options (assuming you have unlocked them all:). You can pick which spells are available. How many bores, birds, and tikis there are. What type of game it is, teams, and on what level to play. How many CPU players (bots). Plus you set the time limit and how many points you play up to. You will be annoyed how little you can see in your small window after playing in full-screen, so just be sure to zoom out (and play on a 32" TV:) and you'll be okay. The framerate also suffers some in split screen. Still all-in-all, a blast to play.

Online mode is a lot of fun, but it's not without its problems. If you have played any other of VC's online games, you know what to expect. Which is both good and bad. The lobby is simple, but 'clunky' (especially trying to chat in the lobby). You first pick a region and a city to play in. Then once in a lobby you can chat with others in the room or join/start a game. If you start a game you can set it up any way you like just like in the offline mode (2-4 players per game). Here is where it starts to go downhill: lag. If you have ever played NFL2K1, it's the same here but with 4 players. Lag is set to the worst player in the game. So one bad connection among the 4 and forget it, plus if anyone gets disconnected during the game it ends. The lag isn't put into any delay in shooting, instead the entire game keeps freezing to catch up to the data. This gives the game a kind of 'stuttering' feel as you play sometimes. Sometimes it's very little, others it's horrible. It plays better on a server closer to home (or out east for some reason), but since these servers are far from packed, you usually have little choice in servers to play on. 2-3 player games help reduce this too. Like the 2K2's it keeps your wins, loses, ties, and drops. Why drops I have no clue since the only time someone quits is because the lag is unbearable. They should of added a 'mutual quit' option so everyone could opt out of the bad lag games without taking a drop and/or a way to see what the lag will be like before you begin (try to avoid lobbies it takes you awhile to join). At least there is a search option to easily find who you're looking for online. Plus you can mute (ignore) players in the lobby or ban them from any game you make (so don't make enemies!). Not the best online DC game (Q3A and UT still win out), but much better then other recent and more notable online titles.

If you are looking for a fun multi-player game for DC, Ooga Booga is your ticket. I think this might be the most fun I've had in a non-FPS multi-player console game since Mario Kart, plus Ooga Booga is online! Fans of Smash Bros. would enjoy this game (at least until they can get Melee:) since they are both similar 'battle' type games with Ooga Booga being 3D (and online:). Still, this game is just a little too simplistic in terms of gameplay, graphics, and presentation. It is also a little unbalanced (ramming Fatties over and over:) and a little too cheap at times. In the end you are left wondering what if they had just done this or that a little better or if there was just more to it all, Ooga Booga might have been a classic like Melee hopes to be;) It is however a lot of fun to play and that's all that really matters. Just don't expect one of the best games ever, but it may be the best 'party' game since well, Mario Party. Visual Concepts has come a long way from Tazmania on SNES, but still has a ways to go to be on the same level as Rare:)

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Value: 8
Tilt: 9
Overall: 8.3 ("You Buy It")