Legacy Interactive, best known for games like Law & Order and family friendly fare like Vet Emergency has deviated away, just a bit with something different with their take on the Igor cartoon. Does creating monsters to rule the world sound good to you, well then this is the game for you. If any of you saw the cartoon Igor several months ago and liked it then you may appreciate the Nintendo DS version of the movie. However for those who didn’t like the movie, you may like the game even better! It doesn’t stick to the plot at all but instead you must build a monster to win the best monster prize at the science fair that is coming up. Some background for those who didn’t see the cartoon – Igor boy scientist had built the greatest monster of them all, which also turns out to be his true love. His mentor then steals her from him right before the science fair. In the game, as Igor you go through rigorous battles so that you can build and upgrade your monster before the big science fair in Malaria.
Igor is a lot less harmless then it sounds. As you go on to build your creature/monster you must complete various games in scoring against your opponent in order to make your creature stronger. The game play is very easy and like most Nintendo DS games, it has a tutorial which does not leave you wondering how the controls work. The game is an even balance of using the stylus to navigate your way through the map and the D pad which you use in your battle modes.
When you come into a battle mode you have different options of an attack which are color coded. Left and right arm – left and right foot. As you build power for each attack you can select one to execute an attack move. You build your power up during the battle by playing a game very similar to bejewled. As color blocks come down and you match more then 2 of the same color in various patterns, you build power in your color boxes. For example if your left arm is red and you have more red points then others, you can attack more with that move. The colors go as followed red, yellow, blue, green. So there are actually two parts to the battle, trying to build power for an attack then also executing the attack. This is a great way to learn to multi-task since when you battle certain creatures the faster the game play is.
As you win battle you win slime. The more slime you win you can go back to the laboratory and purchase different upgrades and power and different body parts for your creature. This will make the monster competitive in different battles, but it ultimately comes down to how fast you can build points to execute attacks.
Conclusion:
The graphics are good and typical of any Nintendo DS. The colors are vibrant as the style tries to portray itself as a cartoon as a game. I can see the game becoming very repetitive but any fan of the cartoon movie will most likely be a fan of the game. I give this a high recommendation to buy to any Igor fan or someone who wants a little Bejeweled flavor with some action rolled into one. Igor for Nintendo DS retails for $19.99
The Good:
Made a bad cartoon but a good video game. Those who like bejeweled with a touch of something different will like it a lot. Creating your own monster could be alot of fun for kids.
The Bad:
Repetition of the same actions over and over gets old fast.
