Teen Titans (GameCube) Review

This license has certainly been put to good use, bringing all your favourite characters together in one action-packed adventure. Unfortunately, though, just as the similar X-Men Legends failed to provide enough spark, so does Teen Titans. The game certainly tries its best to look the part, with lots of colour flying around and heaps of enemies zooming about on-screen at any one time. Yet there are annoying glitches, such as characters juddering like crazy when being carried up on a lift (after you have spent ages trying to get all your computer-controlled characters to bother following you without getting stuck on scenery!), that just leave you feeling like the full potential of the system has not been explored at all. The music certainly is nothing to heap praise on either, although this is more attributed to the show's lack of musical prowess more than anything. Thankfully there is some nice voice-work thrown in...but the game's atmosphere is not as strong as maybe it should have been.

And it really does not help when the game is 'good, but not good enough'. This is a melee fighting / action game when you take control of the five 'popular' characters from the Warner Bros. cartoon and battle your way through masses of enemies until the computer decides enough have been despatched to warrant access being granted for the next section. Basically, rinse and repeat this process and you have the game sussed without the need to read any further...

For those still taking the time to read this shorter-than-average review, on paper Teen Titans sounds like fantastic fun, with five different characters, each with their own set of special moves that can used on the hordes of enemies the game throws at you. Add to that how the characters all learn new moves as the game goes on, plus you can find stacks of extras hidden around the various levels and already it gets your interest, definitely. However, in practice it is not quite as simple as that.

Okay, the controls themselves are not bad at all, for A2M has once again crafted a sturdy final product. The problem lies in the fact that each character is basically the same and fails to really add anything new to the experience. In addition, on many an occasion you end up simply button-mashing to get through as quickly as possible. Fighting the on-screen enemies proves to be inconsequential, other than for the sake of being given the chance to get to the next part of whatever level you are on.

Sadly this negates any real 'fun feeling' you may have thought would be associated with the accruement of new moves after each stage. It also drags the game down from a potential 'great fun' sort of title to one filed under 'missed opportunity'. Youngsters may have fun with it, but even they will likely tire of the endless button hitting that is required. But at least there is a choice of difficulty settings, so younger gamers will be able to easily work their way through...