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Published
by THQ
Developed by Rare
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £29.99
It’s
Mr Pants, an introduction.
Mr.
Pants, that Rare mascot and game cameo celebrity has finally
a game to call his own. It’s Mr Pants is a simple,
yet addictive, game about making rectangles and squares,
of a single colour, with the shapes to hand in order to
clear the grid. Looking at the screenshots the game looks
deceptively simple but it soon becomes challenging. Indeed
the game even looks like it was created just for the younger
gamers out there but the puzzles you’ll encounter
on the higher difficulty levels will certainly make most
of us scratch our heads and retry them several times.
What's
the game about?
There’s
very little to say here apart from the fact the game is
a simplistic and addictive puzzler. The game has three modes
for you to play, Puzzle, Wipeout and Marathon. All three
modes see you having to create complete rectangles or squares
(they have to be at least 3x2 blocks in size though). In
Puzzle mode you’ll begin with some shapes already
on the 13x13 grid and on the right side of the screen you’ll
have a panel that shows you the next shape that will fall.
The idea is to use the shapes that fall (within a given
time limit) to make the shapes on the grid squares or rectangles.
The trick is that the shapes are different colours and whilst
you can overlap the shapes of a different colour you can’t
overlap those of the same colour. Puzzle mode requires you
to clear the grid of shapes (using a fixed number of falling
pieces) in order to complete the puzzle. In Wipeout mode
you’ll have more shapes scattered over the grid and
you’ll have to clear the grid, using as many pieces
as you like, within a 2 minute period. Finally there’s
the Marathon mode which basically gives you 5 minutes to
make as shapes as possible. There is a catch however. A
‘crafty crayon snake’ will wrap itself around
the edge of the screen and spiral it’s way inwards
until it’s takes up all the grid space and if this
happens it’s game over. However clearing shapes from
the grid will reduce the length of the crayon snake by the
amount of blocks in your shape (a 4x5 shape will remove
20 blocks from the snake for instance).
What's
good about the game?
In
a nutshell the game is simple to learn and difficult to
fully master like all good puzzle games should be. After
only a short play the game gets under your skin and you’ll
find yourself retrying those failed levels again and again
until you finally work out the solution. The game offers
3 save slots so if there are others in your household who
appreciate puzzle games you’ll be able to share the
game with them. You can even play as a guest player which
means your friends can give the game a try without taking
up one of your save slots. There are reportedly 200+ puzzles
in Puzzle mode and various pieces of artwork that can be
unlocked as you play through the Puzzle mode.
What's
not so good about the game?
Ultimately
the longevity of the game and the lack of a multiplayer
mode are its main downfall. The aforementioned 200+ puzzles
won’t actually take that long to complete once you’re
comfortable with the game. That said though, the puzzles
are split over 3 difficulty modes and on the highest difficulty
setting a lot more thought is required than on the Easy
and Normal difficulty levels. The game really needs a multiplayer
mode though. Both the Wipeout and Marathon modes would have
made good multiplayer modes (they are not as entertaining
as the Puzzle mode for a single-player) and it’s a
shame that these modes have remained single-player modes
only.
How
does it look?
The
game has a charming simplicity about it that might deceive
you into thinking it’s a children’s only game.
Mr. Pants is a stick man who wears Y-fronts (as well as
a bowler hat) whilst Helpo is a light bulb with stick arms
and legs. The artwork for the backgrounds is usually a crayon
like scribble which looks quite basic but completely fits
in with the rest of the game's visual style. The shapes
themselves are all made up from square blocks and are usually
squares, rectangles, L shapes or simply a single block.
The blocks do have simple patterns on them though which
prevents them from being dull one-colour efforts.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
Being
a Game Boy Advance game there was never going to be many
problems for deaf gamers and apart from the odd verbal quip
from Mr. Pants (that isn’t subtitled) there are no
problems to report. All information throughout the game
is given in text including the hint messages that can be
obtained from Helpo, the little character who will give
you advice if you restart a level more than a few times.
Final
thoughts.
It’s
Mr Pants may appear to be a comical children’s puzzle
game thanks to the wacky characters and the simplistic,
crayon like artwork that’s been used in the game.
However on closer examination you’ll find a solid
puzzle game that’s very addictive and at times really
challenging. It’s a very good game to play for 10
minutes or so at a time and thanks to its addictive nature
you’ll find yourself equally as happy to play the
game when you have more time on your hands.
Overall
Game Rating: 7.0/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
It's Mr Pants is an enjoyable
puzzle game that most fans of the genre will appreciate.
The game's artwork and presentation gives off the appearance
of a child's game but in actual fact the game will appeal
to gamers of all ages. It's disappointing that there are
no multiplayer modes though as the single player game will
not last for a great deal of time.
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