Xbox Review
Grabbed By The Ghoulies

For being Rare's first title on the XBOX, this is well worth the bargain priced $19.99 price tag...



Rare is one of my favorite developers, they kept me entertained during my N64 excursions and although I was disappointed to see them leave the big "N", I was very excited to see them develop games for the most powerful console out there, the Microsoft XBOX. With all the bad raps this game has had, I was disappointed to say the least, but I wanted to see if it was as terrible as people were saying, therefore I'm writing you this review to give you my honest thoughts. I mean really, this is the company that strutted out Conker's Bad Fur Day, BanjoKazooie, Diddy Kong, I would have found it hard to believe that Grabbed By The Ghoulies could really be a "Bad" game as many are saying.

First off and up front to the point, this game is not as bad as people are saying as a whole. Is this the best Rare game ever made? Of course not. Mind you, Grabbed by the Ghoulies may be leaning more toward the younger crowd and yes it can be redundant at times, but it still shows the extreme creativity of Rare and still offers a reasonable fun factor for anyone who wants some good simplistic arse kickin' entertainment. So, the people that rip on this game may be expecting too much for Rare's first XBOX title, Give them a break, this is their first effort and I found it to be just fine.

The storybook presentation is fantastic, like out of a spooky storybook. You take control of this unknown teenager kid and he and his girlfriend get lost and she ends up getting kidnapped by the ghoulies. He, of course needs to save her so he ends up in the spooky house with all the ghastly characters. The basic premise of saving the "girl" is your standard fare for most games of this genre, but that's what makes it easy to pick up, it's simplicity.

The basic object of the game is to clear out rooms of the bad guys to move on. You need to find keys most of time or destroy a certain amount of monster butt before continuing on to the next room. The attacks are basic and to the point. Your standard attacks are your punches and kicks all accomplished with the right control stick. They mix up the gameplay by giving you access to countless other items within the house to use as weapons, pool sticks, pool tables! tables, chairs, swords, furniture, and tons more. It's fun to mix up the gameplay by getting the ability to basically use anything within the house a weapon. This takes away a bit of the redundancy. When getting attacked, your character automatically locks onto the enemy and works quite well. Depending on the direction you're facing, you can kick and attack by pressing in the direction of your enemy. Things get a bit disorientating when multiple enemies on screen so it does become a bit of a button and control sticking mashing fest when things get crazy. There are no puzzle solving elements in this game, this is good for some, bad for others. It's basically a game of exploration, kicking enemies behind and finding the exit to the next room. Along with the weapons you can get powerups to improve your well being. You'll run into heart containers, a "turbo" juice to make your guy twice as fast and twice as strong. Basic? Yes? Fun? I think so. Mind you the older crowd will certainly want a little more variety with the gameplay, but it's all about what your expecting. Leave your expectations for a "basic" spooky kickin fun fest and you'll be right at home with Grabbed by the Ghoulies.

Graphics: As mentioned above, Grabbed By The Ghoulies looks like a spooky Saturday Morning Cartoon. The house is reminiscent of Luigi's Mansion with an exceptional amount of detail to boot. Great use of lighting and cartoony effects too. Creepy crawly characters everywhere, Spiders, walking skeletons, mummies, werewolves, rats, ghosts, and of course ghoulies all jammed into the dusty dirty dark rooms with cob webs and spooky shadows in the dark hallways. The use of colors, textures and just well polished looked of this game shows Rare did not just throw this game out the door, it looks good no matter how bad you think the game plays.

There is a sense of satisfaction kicking annoying skeletons up against the wall and smashing them in the face with a baseball bat then watching dozens of little bones scatter all over the floor. You know what? That appeals to me and trust me, it looks as good as that description sounds. The storybook feel of the game fits the mood of the game completely. Betweens rooms you're enticed to a "virtual storybook" that appeals to people who want to keep up with the interesting storytelling timeline of the game that is all done with in game graphics. The annoying butler sometimes interrupts the game at inopportune times, but it's still fun to watch the story unfold as Rare did this part perfectly.

Sound: The sound is also worth the price of admission and has a very under appreciated soundtrack. Rare did not skimp as the music changes from room to room and it's orchestrated theme really kicks in on a good home theater system. Great sound effects like bones getting kicked around the room, annoying ghoulie chatter and some mumble jumbo from your character when he gets spooked out of his wits. Mind you, the chatter is mostly mumbles and screams during your stay with this game and all text is embedded between the rounds within the virtual storybooks, but amazingly, you wont' be missing any voice-overs, it works well in other games, why not this one?

Final Call: For the current price of $19.99 at most game sellers, this XBOX game should be taken into consideration. Mind you, Rare has done better, but there are many appealing aspects of this game that should be experienced. I wish it got more credit from people, I know we expect a lot from Rare with their stellar past history with Nintendo, but give the developer some credit, there is some quality with Grabbed by the Ghoulies and it does strut the XBOX's power; tremendous graphics, great storybook presentation, great sound, and good mindless arse kickin' fun. If you're a bit overwhelmed with everything else that requires some brains, chill out with this game and enjoy yourself. Until Conker, I suggest giving this game a little of your XBOX attention.

The Good and the Bad

+ Great storybook presentation that keeps you involved.
+ Uses the power of the XBOX, great graphics through and through.
+ Good brainless monster kickin' fun.
+ Great sound effects and music rules.

- A bit redundant at times.
- More depth needed.

By: John