by Jill Keil on Thursday, January 05, 2006
On a recent cross-country plane ride, I decided to take a gander at Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World for the Game Boy Advance. It just so happened that I was surrounded on this flight by many parents and young kids, and it provided me with the perfect atmosphere in which to figure out whether a game like Kong is suitable for children, and indeed, for families as a whole. As the kids screamed in a chorus of wails and cries around me, I put the game to the test to see whether a game like this would actually get them to sit still and be quiet during a long trip, or whether that particular magic bullet is still yet to be found.
It's probably important to note that during this trip, I had not yet seen the movie, and was only vaguely familiar with the story. Fortunately for me, countless cartoons and commercials over the years have parodied the plot of King Kong, and so it didn't take too much effort to guess at the storyline of the movie (and of the game). Enormous gorilla falls in love with beautiful woman? Easy enough.
Thankfully, the Game Boy Advance takes this basic storyline and adds a lot to it, and what results is an experience much richer than expected. The game begins with the three main characters, Ann, Carl, and Jack, as they travel to Skull Island in order to film a movie. Ann is the gorgeous actress, Carl runs the show, and Jack is a loyal worker on the film. Right from the start, Skull Island is clearly an ominous presence. The island looms off in the mist and fog, its sole characteristic its giant mountain that looks like a skull. When the three get off their boat to explore, they find what sounds like a scary celebration, with chants of "Kong! Kong!" Carl sets up his camera to film, but the group is spotted, and they quickly make their way back to the boat. Unfortunately, they are not able to get there before Kong himself glimpses Ann, and decides that she is beautiful enough to kidnap her. And that is just what he does, later that night, right off the film crew's boat.
It is at this point that the game becomes less story narration and more actual gameplay. Carl and Jack decide to be heroes, and head back onto the island to follow in Kong's tracks and save Ann. Each character has his own special weapons, and the player can switch between them depending on what needs to be done. So, if a cave entrance needs to be knocked down, Carl can toss a hand grenade, and if some boxes need to be opened and items collected, Jack can break them with his machete. That's the other thing...the island is full of collectible items, which the characters can then combine to create other weapons. So, some sulfur and a shell can very easily create a hand grenade.
The game follows a map of the island, and the object is to follow Kong to the other side. Plenty of tricks and obstacles stand in the way of that though, and getting through them can be mighty tricky. There are plenty of small enemies to fight, and the health of the two characters diminishes quite quickly. Also, getting through the terrain can be pretty tough, and the player is left to his or her own devices without much direction when it comes to tasks like collecting logs and vines to build a raft. This game is definitely best left for those who have a lot of patience, and who love to spend lots of time figuring how things are done. It took me a significant amount of time to figure out how to collect the above-mentioned logs and vines, and then how to actually use them once I had them.
So the game is tricky, but very easily engrossing. It is easy to get sucked in due to the pretty frequent cut scenes that allow you to play as Kong, or as the three main players. This keeps the action moving, and keeps the game from getting too tedious by focusing on only one characters' viewpoint.
All in all, Kong is a challenge, but older kids and parents will probably have a ball figuring out the best course of action to get through the game, particularly if they are fans of the movie or have just seen it on the big screen. The game is well done, with great animation, and plenty of action to keep the story moving. Unfortunately, I don't think Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World is quite the ticket to keeping all of the loud, shrieking kids on the airplane distracted, but it definitely will do the trick for older gamers and adults who want to tune them out!
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