So it may not have any marmosets, but…at least it’s not
another generic GBA platformer for kids. At least it’s got that going for it. It’s
a generic shooter. And I
know
it probably sounds like I’m being a d*ck about it, but I’m totally serious. That
alone gives this game an advantage. There are so many licensed platformers on the GBA…
Just being not that makes this one okay.
It’s Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle, for the Game Boy Advance.
I mean, my thought is…if making all these licensed games on the GBA basically amounted
to just making generic platformers…why not just pick a different genre? You could still
be generic, but at least you’d be a generic something else. And that’s what this one
does. Hey, there was already a generic Danny Phantom side-scroller on the Game Boy Advance.
Why not make a generic shooter as the follow up?
If you’re gonna be generic, at least be different. I’m being serious.
So Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle…is basically Danny Phantom meets R-Type. You play as Danny,
you fly around and you shoot things. Most of those things are the same things. You do
that for a while, you switch to first-person stuff, you take down some bosses…and it’s
game over. You call it a day. It’s really short, it’s really simple…it’s really
generic…
But at least it’s not a generic platformer.
Seriously, there were a lot of those on the GBA.
Now, I probably don’t need to tell you there isn’t anything original here. But to the
game’s sincere credit, it does combine a couple things that I can’t remember being
combined before. Specifically, it’s a traditional side-scrolling shooter, but combined with
a ghost-catching hook similar to Luigi’s Mansion. So you can shoot the ghosts, but
you also have a selection of weapons that let you capture the ghosts.
So you’re blasting and catching, which is actually a pretty cool idea.
And actually, another cool idea…even if it’s, also, not at all original…is that
you can charge yourself with two different polarities. You can go with pink or blue,
and you can switch between them anytime you want. And what that does is…you can absorb
bullets of whatever color you happen to be using. So if you’re pink, you can absorb
pink bullets, and blue with blue.
That actually refills your health bar, too. And again, this is another idea that’s been
in other games…but who cares? It’s not overdone, certainly not in licensed kids games,
and it adds another interesting element to Urban Jungle. When you might not expect any.
Now, the drawback to the polarity thing…is that, the game is a little too easy to begin
with. Seriously, you have to try to lose, and adding invincibility to half the bullets…I
mean, you really have to try to lose. And coming from me, that says something. I think
video games should be easier across the board. But this takes it a little too far. I get
that it’s for kids, but…
Even for kids, this is a little much.
You can slam into everything you see, and not die.
And for all the positive…or at least not negative things, we’ve said about this game…there’s
a lot of negative things to say about this game. I mean, it really doesn’t play all
that great. And the first-person parts, in particular, are a bit of a problem. Moving
a reticule with the d-pad…that’s never an ideal situation. And it feels super clunky
in Urban Jungle.
And actually, the presentation’s a bit rough, too. I mean, I realize the show had a simplistic
style…but this isn’t stylish simplicity. This just looks like a coloring book. Badly
colored.
And I don’t know what to call the music.
It’s, like…broken instruments. Recorded in a giant popcorn tin.
You know, I enjoyed this a lot more than most licensed GBA games. I really did. But to be
honest, that’s only because of what it’s not. Not what it is. It’s not one of the
countless generic platformers based on kids shows released on the GBA. But it’s still…a
generic kids game, for the GBA. Not a bad choice for young fans of the show, but a totally
forgettable experience otherwise. I mean, it’s relentlessly generic.
Maybe dangerously so.
It’s Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle. Thanks for sending it, Salvatore from Philadelphia.
Just look what you’ve done.