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"WELL DONKEY, WITH OVER a dozen games under me belt, it's time to have a go at a racing game." Queue donkey jumping up and down. "Yeah, Shrek, is there go carts, massive tracks, stunning graphics, destructable environments? Come on, Shrek, destructable environments - everyone is doing it." Shrek looking sheepish "No, Donkey, this is fairy tale land. We will have small tracks and comical animals and vehicles but it will be a value title."
That's Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing in a nutshell. It's a standard racing game utilising the characters of the movie series, as well as some of the locations. You can play your favourites - Shrek, donkey, puss n' boots, etc., over some 12 track locations. These locations includes Shrek's swamp, Far Far Away and Dragon's Castle. The tracks themselves are filled with imagery from the movies and are filled with twists and turns, leaps, alternative routes, and barring a few exceptions most of the objects are solid and represent obstacles making the game largely crash with little smash.
The vehicles are just as twisted as some of the characters. Shrek rides a shaggy buffalo, while the three pigs ride on their on magic carpet. Each character has its own attack mode in which to knock over opponents. You can also drive over pickups that give you additional options such as speed gains, jack-in-the-box mines and stink bombs.
The mixture of vehicles is good, however they all handle the same. Unfortunately they all handle badly. With the tight tracks, the speed of the game and the poor turning can make the game pretty frustrating for the younger set. It's very easy to crash into the trees, posts, walls, etc..
To spice up the racing there is the inclusion knights, lab workers and other minions of evil who patrol the tracks to knock unwary racers of their mount. You in turn, though, can knock them over as well using your character's particular attack skill. It is a shame this part of the game was not explored more, with additional race points being given for how many you knock over.
One of the brighter points in the game is the humour in the voiceovers. Presented in the style of the movies, you will find the first few runs through amusing but each character has a limited set of voice clips and ultimately the jokes wear a bit thin.
This game was released in the US and Europe back in November 2006 and was not a stunning success. Why it has now been released here in New Zealand we are unsure. The movie Shrek 3 is some way off and no doubt this will have its own set of games supporting the franchise
Overall this is a standard franchise racing game, funny in places and faithful to the style of the movie series. It does, however, offer little in the way of anything new to the genre and its difficult controls make this an exercise of frustration. This being said it's good fun initially and will appeal to fans of the movie if not just for the opening movie clips. Its 'value title' status means it is priced well for its content. |
