GameCube

Starsky & Hutch

I’d have to say that, considering the ten dollar price tag, it’s easy to pick this one up. After all, how often can you find a new release on the GameCube for that small of a price? If you’d rather spend around four, maybe you could rent it, or GameFly it if you have an account. Either way, it’s worth checking out if you have the time and/or money. Otherwise, I’m sure you could go the rest of your life without playing this game and still find something to be happy about.

TV in the 1970s was rife with cop shows of varying quality. To really stand out, you needed some sort of hook. Starsky & Hutch had one of the best--a 1974 Ford Gran Torino with a memorable red-and-white paint job. Though the show didn't lean on its trademark car as heavily as, say, The Dukes of Hazzard, it was still as much a character as Starsky, Hutch, or Huggy Bear. Empire Interactive released a driving-and-shooting game based on this retro TV classic a full year ago on the PS2, Xbox, and PC, and now that same game has arrived, tires squealing, on the GameCube. Even if it had been released in tandem with the other three versions, Starsky & Hutch isn't quite as good on the GameCube as it is on other platforms. However, the tardiness and the rougher edges are alleviated somewhat by a phenomenally deep discount price, as well as by some nice stylistic touches in the game itself.

Having been a product of the 1980s my knowledge of all things 70s has always come from movies and DVDs of recently released television shows of that particular era. What are my favorites? Buddy cop shows like Starsky & Hutch. I mean, what’s not to like about two sly undercover cops driving around in a super cool Ford Gran Torino and laying down the law to some super groovy soundtrack that’s as funky as Huggy Bear’s wardrobe. So when a video game was announced, I couldn’t help but think one thing: if the game is as hip as the television show then GameCube gamers are in for one hell of a ride.

Alala, une grosse déception tout de même que ce Starsky & Hutch. Lassant, possédant un gameplay relativement pauvre, ce jeu pourra vous amuser le temps d'un après-midi (c'est ce qu'il vous faudra pour terminer le mode Histoire) mais une fois bouclé vous n'êtes pas près d'y revenir.

Digging once again into America's pop culture, this time TV culture, the brethren game label of Rockstar Games, Gotham Games, has unearthed one of the most popular '70s cop shows, Starsky and Hutch in videogame form. If you have even the measliest of imaginations, Starsky and Hutch easily lends itself to the medium. It's got all the ingredients: really, heavy American muscle cars, a buddy cop team, one blond, one brunette, and a filthy underworld of urban drug dealers and corrupt people trying to get ahead in the harsh, darkened post '60s landscape.