///////                                                    \\\\\\\
 /////////--------------------------------------------------\\\\\\\\\
///     ///                                                \\\     \\\
//   8   //                      Review                    \\   8   \\
///     ///                                                \\\     \\\
 /////////--------------------------------------------------\\\\\\\\\
  ///////                                                    \\\\\\\


>>> The cartoon-curse broken... <<<
Let me first explain this title. It seems that cartoons are in some way 
cursed. It’s an unwritten rule in the land of games: the better the cartoon, 
the worse the game made from that cartoon. Just look at South Park and The 
Simpsons: brilliant cartoons, but crappy games. So it’s not that weird that 
everyone was pretty skeptical about this game at first. Rest assured: 
Futurama the Game isn’t nearly as bad as South Park the game or Simpsons 
Road Rage...


>>> Gameplay: 8/10 <<<
This game has four playable characters, all from the tv shows. The gameplay 
for the characters is quite different, so there’s enough variation to keep it 
interesting. Fry, for example, is fond of guns, so his levels include a lot 
of fire fights with enemy robots. Bender, on the other hand, is more about 
the classical platform elements, and Leela’s part is like Tomb Raider in a 
cartoon style. Then there’s Dr. Zoidberg, lonely crab. He only features in 
one mini-game like level. 
The controls are unfortunately not as good as they should be. This can 
especially be a pain in the rear with jumping. The jump move sometimes seems 
to react a little slow, and in a level where you have to move really fast, 
this is lethal. Luckily, the controls are decent in most parts of the game, 
so there are only a few moments where you get frustrated. The same goes for 
the camera: it’s not perfect, because it sometimes gets stuck behind walls 
and corners, but overall, it does what it have to do. 
Futurama is in essence a platformer, so there are things that have to be 
collected, like in any platformer. Here you have to find Nibblers (small 
aliens that are trapped in cages) and valuables. The valuables can give you 
extra lives, and the Nibblers unlock the various extras (more about that 
later). Finding all the valuables is definitely a challenge, and the extra 
lives it gets you makes it worth it, so that gives you some replay value too. 


>>> Graphics: 7/10 <<<
Cell shaded graphics are the bomb. At least most developers like to think so. 
Some games just have cell shaded graphics just to sell better. In a game like 
Auto Modellisa (or something), the cartoon style doesn’t add anything. But 
since Futurama was originally a cartoon, using cartoon-like graphics seems 
no more than logical. The graphics look decent, without being great. There’s 
plenty of detail in the environments, and the motions are decent. The game 
sometimes stutters a bit, and the frame-rate isn’t very constant. But that 
only happens when it gets really crowded. Normally, the frame-rate is good, 
and the game doesn’t shock. 


>>> Sound: 9/10 <<<
All the voice actors from the original series are here. The dialogues are as 
good as in any episode. No one can possibly keep his face straight when 
hearing the hilarious comments of the four heroes, Professor Farnsworth, 
Sal, Mom and her sons. The game also features a lot of in/game one-liners. 
Some are brilliant, like Zoidberg’s “I got skills that don’t take ill!”. 
Others are painfully not funny. Most of these embarrassing punch lines are 
from Leela. Just like in the show, she is the least funny character. The 
funniest is of course Bender. 


>>> Lifespan: 6/10 <<<
The game can be completed in around 8 hours easily. This is pretty short 
indeed. And to be honest, there isn’t much replay value either. Sure, you 
can try to find all Nibblers to unlock all extras, but why bother? The extras 
are just FMV’s and load screens you already saw in the game. There will be 
people who want to see them over and over again, but I’m not really one of 
them. It’s that I had to write a FAQ on the game, otherwise I’d have felt 
ripped off. 


>>> Overall: 8/10 <<<
What do we have here then? A simple, unoriginal platformer, that has it flaws 
but makes up a great deal with it’s great humour. Any fan from the series 
will probably love it. If you don’t like Futurama, but are addicted to 
platformers, this game will be nice to keep you busy while waiting for JakII 
or R&C2 to come out. And if you’re not a big fan of platformers either, you 
could at least rent it. The game isn’t perfect, but it’s good and clean fun.