Oh sorry, I forgot the TM.
Basil's another of those
'properties' that starts as
something humble like a film and
soon turns into a t-shirt, video, ice
cream flavour and eventually
computer game. Remember we're
talking Disney here, so Gremlin
assures me that the game has
been designed with the younger
gamer in mind. Does that mean
I've got to be nice to it? No? Oh
goody.
So, from the basement of 221 b
Baker Street, Basil must rescue
his loyal friend Dr Dawson, who's
been kidnapped by the evil
criminal masterrodent Professor
Ratigan. The trail leads him
through London's sewers and
dockland, looking for clues (ooh-wah) which are usually hidden in
pots, jars and the like. There are
three 'scenarios', and you must
collect five clues to progress to the
next one. Trouble is, Prof Ratigan
has hidden eight false clues in
each 'scenario', and you can only
deduce which clues are kosher
when you've collected five. In the
meantime there are nasties to be
avoided, or nabbed with
mousetraps, and there's
occasionally cheese to eat.
Which is fine in theory, but to be
frank, or indeed marcus, this is not
up to Gremlin's usual standards.
After the splendours of
Nipper II,
Basil's a mere mouse by
comparison. Graphics are rather
less colourful and well drawn, too
many screens look too similar, and
gameplay is monotonous. Does
this mean that younger players will
enjoy it? I'm not sure, but I doubt it.
It's not that easy to play, in fact, but
that doesn't make it any more
addictive. Basil isn't abysmal, by
any means - it's just bog
standard, and that's disappointing
from Gremlin. File under 'Not
quite'.
| Ratings given by other magazines |
| |
7/10
|
|
7/10
| |
|
| Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database |
