Future Publishing


The Addams Family
By Ocean
Game Boy

 
Published in Ace #055: April 1992

The Addams Family

There's creepy and they're kooky, they're scary and they're spooky, they're altogether ooky... so "ooky" in fact that they're now on the GameBoy in, it has to be said, rather predictable fashion. Based on the surprisingly successful movie adaptation, Ocean's game (which is bound for computer formats soon), it's a predictable and not particularly inspired platform romp with the player taking on the role of kooky head-of-the-household Gomez.

The story goes that the rest of the family have been kidnapped by their scheming attorney, and it's up to Gomez to save them, one at a time, and then take on the evil lawyer himself. Doing so entails running and leaping, in suspiciously similar style to Mario's GameBoy exploits, through the Addams' multi-storey gothic mansion and the surrounding grounds, doing battle with an array of suitably ghoulish baddies along the way.

It's all pretty standard platform fare, with Gomez chucking little swords (he likes to fence) at his adversaries, uncovering bonuses and generally behaving in a Mario-like way. It sort of works, although there are some irksome elements - Gomez's jumping action is strangely restrained and doesn't feel conducive to play, and it actually seems as though there are too many platforms, as almost everything can be walked on. It gets annoying.

The Addams Family

The Addams Family isn't a bad little platform game. It's certainly nothing special, but it'll provide an adequate fix for levels 'n ladders junkies for a while. Fans of The Addams Family are unlikely to be impressed, as the game is very generic and bears little relation to the movie.

Take a look - but approach with caution.

Uppers

  1. Fairly playable platform fun.
  2. Nice graphics and jolly music.

Downers

  1. Annoyingly difficult.
  2. Never really gets exciting.

Verdict

As soon as the Start button is pressed, The Addams Family gives the player a very hard time, assaulting him with all manner of baddies. It's not terribly tough, but it's hard enough to put novice or less patient players off early on.

There is some compulsion to see what lies beyond the first few stages, but it's a good bet that most people who play it will never see the end, either through it being too difficult - or just not interesting enough.

Gary Whitta