Welcome to a new edition of Modern Gaming and this time as we countdown to Avengers: Infinite War I have one Hulk game to review. Before the MCU sole Hulk film came out, there was already a movie that got released in 2003. The title called Hulk was a standalone movie produced by Universal Pictures and has no ties to the MCU. Its director was Ang Lee and Eric Bana stared as Bruce Banner/Hulk, an actor who's also known for his role in Troy as Hector. The film's success made $245.4 million dollars at the box office, a shy 20 million short from the 2008 movie. For the Hulk game in this edition, unlike the console versions, the theme follows its own narrative that has nothing to do with the film. Bruce gets caught in a gamma ray bomb testing as always stated in his origin story. Bruce sets his goal to get out of the military lab which later on takes him on a quest to stop Tyrannus and the Leader. Despite the game being license around the film, its plot has nothing to do with the theme. Its story is actually based on the older comics since Madman and the Leader weren't in the movie's lore. Gameplay Unlike the console version of the same game, the GBA port is a far cry from what GameCube and PS2 owners received. The gameplay and level design is in an isometric view similar to Sonic 3D Blast. The stages have the player try to complete the objective by plowing through enemies while following a set of red arrows. What these are for is to tell the player the direction they need to go and will lead them to their objective. In just the first few levels had me bored as all I did was constantly press the B button. Most of the time, it felt like I was just smashing my way through enemies and walls for the sake of destroying. I get it; these games' only purpose is to target little boys as the main demographic. However, as I have said in my Iron Man review, this is not a good excuse to use especially for a license game. Of course, the Hulk does have his patent moves which include punches, lifting heavy objects to throw, his famous thunder-clap, ramming and stomping hard. It's probably one of the few things the developer got right as these moves do take out many enemies. However, there's a catch, you will need to destroy many enemies to collect stars. These are to fill three colored fists (on the right bottom of the screen) that act like an energy meter. That means you will have to smash every enemy that's encountered to get these abilities. Another thing they didn't screw up is how the Hulk can regenerate health and energy for the power meter. Not only does it play up to one of his abilities but it also helps with the gameplay in some form. Unfortunately, there are more flaws to this license then I first perceived. In any level, the enemies will surround you at all times and there wasn't a moment when they didn't come after me. Its gets even worse later on as everything from solders to tanks and helicopters comes at you in droves. The A.I. for the enemies is so stupid that even when you're standing several feet away or smash a wall nearby, they will stand there like idiots. Of course, the enemies do get stronger as you progress but this only makes the gameplay frustrating and repetitive. Try fending off enemies that take several hits or more while being surrounded by tanks. Yeah, that really sounds fun right? Another problem that adds to the frustration is forcing the player to take damage to attack. I mean was it really so hard to program the game where you attacks stuns an enemy for a second when they take damage. One other issue is the hit detection and I can tell this was sloppy programmed on to the sprites. You literally have to face everything from their front side to get an attack. Even when the attacks are a pixel or two off, the player will miss most of the time. Of course, we can't forget the disgusting cherry on this Shovelware sundae, and that's the objectives. I'm not making this up as two through three goals of the same kind gets recycle often. It will always be smash four things or kill 20 strong enemies to progress to the next level. Its clear this studio didn't genuinely care for the quality since producing crappy gameplay was their first priority. Rating: 5.6/10 Graphics/Presentation By 2003, we already saw the power the GBA could produce thanks to games like Golden Sun. However, Hulk's game didn't fare so well in its visual department compared to Iron Man's GBA title. The visuals had an isometric design which means there is an over top view at an angle. Lamentably, the game suffers from a bad art direction and because of this makes the detail ugly. I find that truly surprising since Marvel actually has a good art style for their comics and cartoons. You will find everything from the sprites to the environments to have this blurry and choppy appearance. If that isn't enough, the levels feel so generic that the other areas I went through felt like they repeated. Go pop in Light Crusader on the Genesis and then play this afterwards; it's like day and night. However, I guess the reason Light Crusader has good quality graphics is because Treasure genuinely cared. Yet, this studio seems to not care at all when the GBA has better hardware then the Genesis. The animation is very choppy as the sprites move as if they are these chubby munchkins. The Hulk looks like a giant munchkin stomping around like an angry toddler. It's even the same thing for most of the non-human characters so I can't comprehend how they thought this looked good. The presentation is as if the Hulk wiped his ass with this and bestowed it right back to the developer. The still images are also used here in a comic book fashion and there are more than a couple. However, that is the only redeeming factor which isn't that much given the overall quality. The GBA's horrid sound chip doesn't help either as the tracks have this same repetitive tone. It was so horrible that I had to mute the sound completely so I could relieve the pain. The theme also comes off problematic and this port wasn't actually based off the film. The console versions takes place eight years after the film but the portable game followed a different narrative. I can tell the designer took some concepts from the older comics and used what he found. It's funny how the last Marvel game I looked at only had third-rate villains in use. Yet, for a crappy Hulk title we get his actual arch nemesis' who are second-rate villains instead. Of course, both games were developed by two different studios but I can't help feel that these companies really don't care. Overall, the theme was a simplistic version of what the older comics used and made the story generic. Rating: 5.8/10 Features/Content If any gamer is anticipating great content then, this is the wrong game for you. The single-player mode will take over five hours of smashing respawned enemies and performing the same goals. I would have to question the sanity of anyone who could sit through five hours of the same repetitive garbage. I had to quit the game at the half way point as it was either continue losing my mind doing the same thing or shut the damn game off. On top of that, there's nothing to collect or hidden areas in the stages to find. Surprisingly enough there's a multiplayer mode, but the problem is it's completely useless. I want you to think for this one but what are the odds of two little boys having two copies of this game. Unquestionably, zero is the answer because no kid would want to waste their friend's time on something they will forget. Fortunately for me I don't have to try the mode since two or four copies are not in my possession. It turns out the multiplayer is a last man standing match that supports two to four players as each gamer plays as their own Hulk. All I can say is this, good luck trying to convince anyone to play a steaming pile of crap with you. Again, what was the point of adding multiplayer in? There's also a cheat code to skip to the next level but really I see no reason for that when the levels are the same. Rating: 5.4/10 Final Rating When it comes to Marvel's games, they are either a hit or a miss, however, in this case it reeks of absolute trash. Despite the designer putting the Hulk's powers into the gameplay, the level design couldn't save this area. The stages suffer from respawned enemies that swarm the player at any give chance like a hornet's nest being disturbed. Of course, the worst comes later on as stronger enemies and even military vehicles barrage the player. Another issue is how the game would recycle the same objectives most of time adding to the frustration. The graphics were as dull as any license title on the system with its blurry and uninspiring visuals. The environments came off so generic I thought the levels repeated their sections again. The music is presumably among the worse soundtracks from this portable system. I'll go as far as to say it's so horrible that this compares to My Little Pony: The Runaway Rainbow port. The theme was probably taken from the older comics of the Hulk as a throw back since the Leader wasn't in the film. However, the writer completely blotched the story for this version as it felt generic even for the Hulk. The features include a 5 hour campaign of performing the same tedious actions in a recycled way. With a useless multiplayer mode, a level skip cheat and nothing hidden to find, makes me question a gamer's sanity of playing this trash. The GBA port is the worst game based on the infamous green superhero I have ever played. That's truly unfortunate that the designer who helped produce this turd only did it for a paycheck. Gameplay: 5.6/10 Graphics/Presentation: 5.8/10 Features/Content: 5.4/10 Final Rating: 5.6/10 Mediocre
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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