Disney's Tarzan

Disney action-game specialist Activision (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2) has done last summer's critically acclaimed blockbuster right with this 13-stage action Pak.

To portray the jungle in all its vibrant detail and maintain a lickety-split frame rate, Activision wisely turned to developer Eurocom, which opted for the same "2-1/2D" approach that yielded such beautiful results with Yoshi's Story.

While Tarzan mostly moves left and right, he's a fully polygonal character, both as a boy and as a grown man. His environment teems with vine-draped trees, moss-covered rocks, roaring waterfalls, tranquil streams and exotic beasts crisscrossing the screen in all directions.

Though you can't control it, the camera shows remarkable freedom, frequently wheeling or zooming as Tarzan climbs a cliff or discovers buried loot. There's even a fully 3-D stage, where Tarzan can roam at will around a ship.

And when the T-man hits the treetops for one of those stunning branch-surfing scenes that wowed audiences in the theater, the game moves faster than a herd of thundering wildebeests with nary a dropped frame.

Play control is excellent for most of Tarzan's tasks, including running, jumping and pounding the ground. However, it feels a little slow when you must simultaneously battle Sabor, the vicious leopard who killed Tarzan's parents, and elude a rapacious hawk.

Exceptional vine-swinging and tree-surfing skills are required for grabbing all items. Fortunately, such expertise is not needed to finish most stages.

More challenging is the uneven game balance, with simple-as-falling-off-a-log stages following exceeding tough ones. Even when playing on the easiest of the three difficulty levels, young players might become frustrated.

You'll get to play as four characters: young Tarzan, adult Tarzan, Jane, and Terk, Tarzan's wise-cracking tomboy pal. Sabor, who killed Tarzan's parents, haunts him like a bad dream, while the odious big-game hunter Clayton ape-naps Tarzan's beloved friends.

This being an action game, Tarzan, Jane and Terk have to fight (or run away from) an impressive array of enemies. It's somewhat off-putting, though, when the enemies are cuddly creatures like patas monkeys. While deft footwork can allow you to escape many enemies without harming them, by game's end you'll have collected enough virtual pelts to make Clayton jealous.

Eurocom has packed the game with an impressive amount of voice samples. These sound like they come from the movie actors, but are voiced by anonymous talent. While the soundtrack is too light-jazzy for an action game, especially one set in the jungle, the animal growls, hoots and caws sound have the ring of authenticity.

Zoologists may complain that Disney's Tarzan is populated with lemurs, poison dart frogs and other animals that never get closer to the East African jungle than the Nairobi zoo. Those are small quibbles, though. Gorgeous as a Kilimanjaro sunrise and faster than a cheetah, this action Pak proves that the third time's the charm for Activision's big Disney deal.

Source:

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64

Welcome to the Jungle

Overcome the jungle's most dangerous perils in this action-packed adventure. Relive Tarzan's journey through life from a headstrong youth to a courageous adult. Interact with unique characters, ride on elephants, solve challenging puzzles and surf on trees. Master the moves of this ultimate jungle hero. * Relive the feature film experience * Animated scenes straight from the feature film * 13 challenging levels * Various bonus levels

[Captions]

Swing from vines

Surf on trees

The ultimate adventure

Source:

Back of Jewel Case - PlayStation (US)