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07-03-25 01:30 AM

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1,022
Replies
3
Rating
3
Status
OPEN
Thread
Creator
play4fun
07-02-14 11:35 PM
Last
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play4fun
07-06-14 06:26 PM
System
GameCube
Rating
2.5
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It's More Fun In Real Life Than Playing This Game

 
Game's Ratings
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play4fun's Score
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07-02-14 11:35 PM
play4fun is Offline
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play4fun
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Sometimes you might stumble upon a game that makes you question the brains of a game company. You ask how is it possible to spend a lot of time, money, staff, effort on something, and produce something that is worth playing for less than 3 hours total. You wonder how this type of game would produce a profit. Universal Studios Theme Park for the Gamecube is one of those games. Fitting to its name, Universal Studios is "universally" known as being one of the worst games of all time and is argued as the worst game for the GameCube console. For something that is made on a sixth generation console like the GameCube, one might think that these claims are over-exaggerated and is not as bad as people say. Sadly, I was cursed to somehow have this game in possession and have tried to play through this monstrosity. I can confirm with both critics and gamers alike that the game developers are better off saving their time and money than creating this game into existence.

Nothing Special in Appearance
      I can tell that much of the focus was placed on design, but that is not saying a lot consider how plain it looks. For a game that is licensed under a well-known movie studio brand, it would be their top priority to make their game recognizable to the masses. That is the only attraction that the game developers have to attract people to buy this game, and to their credit, they have done enough to at least succeed in that. The animation and models in this game are not terrible and they are able to produce some type of resemblance to the Universal Studios Japan park, including the iconic Universal Globe. They have also placed a lot of effort in making the mascot of the game, Woody Woodpecker, to be recognizable. However, much of the game is boringly generic. The people who goes into the theme park are all designed with the same body model with a different skin and a different size. In looking at the environment of the game, most of the animation are either simple or in loops.
      Sound is not any better in support its case of appeal. All one needs is a little bit of sound mixing with appropriate theme park sounds, no matter how recycled they are, and it would make the atmosphere to be a lot more immersive, but they didn't even do that, but a faint chatter and some popping of balloons when there are any. The only music that constantly plays in the background on theme park grounds is a generic repeating tune that plays in any time or any place in the theme park. It is not even a memorable or catchy tune. One possible time that you can hear a different sound effect on park grounds is when you talk to Woody Woodpecker or related characters, and they didn't even try to get the voice acting to be close to the actual character. The only saving grace on the music is that they used the licensed soundtrack of Universal Studio films in the rides, and those who are familiar with those movies can at least have a nostalgic experience in those soundtracks.

Sad Excuse of a Souvenir
      It's quite obvious that this game was tailored for a specific audience to buy, but the end results confuses everyone as to who this game is targeting. If we look at gameplay, it seem to be targeting a young audience who likes to go to the Universal Studios Theme Park. The contents of the game are insultingly childish and simple. The whole game consists of the following:
  1. Theme Park Rides (Minigames)
  2. A Movie Quiz
  3. Picture Puzzles
  4. Collecting letters hidden around the park that spells "Universal Studios"
  5. Matching Cards
Most of these components are games/puzzles that are only challenging to kindergartners. Ignoring the matching and picture puzzles, the rides themselves don't provide much depth in their gameplay. For Jaws, it is picking up a barrel on the ship and throwing it to the shark; for ET, it is a simple race against time of biking from one end to the other; for Back to the Future, it is simply chasing another car using your Delorean...all of these games have simple controls and objectives that looks more like chores than entertainment. You know that this is a boring experience when the ride with the most gameplay-Backdraft-consists of you go through a building, put out fires, and save people, and even that ride is tarnished by how unreasonably long it lasted. 
      And yet, with all these insultingly simple child games, the theme of these games focuses on content that are most likely unfamiliar to the younger generation during the year 2001. Most movies featured in this theme park existed in the early 1990s, with Jurassic Park being the oldest (1993). If the gameplay is suited for a younger audience, I don't think most of them have even seen these movies. Some might think that it wouldn't matter as much because of how simple the gameplay is, but it does confuse your audience as to what the context is. What makes it worse is that the movie quiz in the game ask questions about specifics from these old movies, and the quiz is one task that must be completed in order to unlock other rides in the game. A sad way of making the game "more difficult". So you have a situation where the game doesn't appeal to the majority to begin with. It's too simple to attract older audiences while the subject is too foreign to attract the younger generation. Having an ESRB rating of "T for Teen" for this game sums up the identity confusion that this game has.

     Overall, I can honestly say that this is one of the most boring games that I've played. It is not an "entertainingly bad" game, but a "boringly bad" game and I would not recommend anyone to even try to play it. Whatever time that is spent on this game will be wasted, and I fully regret wasting my time playing this back in the day. If you want to experience the fun and magic of Universal Studios Theme Park, going to the theme park itself (not necessarily the one in Japan) is worth more in terms of money and experience than this game.

Final Rating: 2.5
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Post Rating: 3   Liked By: Singelli, Spicy, TheReaper7290,

07-06-14 02:45 PM
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This was a great review thank you I really enjoyed reading it. I would expect nothing less but the best from the person who made the review on how to make a good review. I have never played this game and that is why I always read allot of reviews on games before I buy them. 
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07-06-14 03:44 PM
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First, let me say about your review: Man, I can never reach to that level reviewing....well maybe I could but it'll take a lot of experience.

And second, my opinion:
Wow, such a game like that could exist?

Anyway, if I were to say to you which is worse: Action 52 or the game that you reviewed?

REPLY TO play4fun: Well, the worst aspect to me in gaming is that the game is boring....I can't bare that.
So that makes me......like Action 52 more the game you reviewed....ok, I'm kinda speechless.
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(edited by saldek on 07-06-14 06:37 PM)    

07-06-14 06:26 PM
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play4fun
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saldek : It depends on what you mean by worse. Action52 is bad because of how frustrating it is, Universal Studios is just boring.
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