SNES

Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit

If you've got an itch for a platform game that'll keep you occupied over the course of a lazy Saturday, then Home Improvement is for you. If you hate the show, it really won't make a difference. And if you are a fan, then hey, they made a Home Improvement video game! Whoop-dee-do!

If you're a fan of side-scrolling fun or just a fan of the show, you'll find something to like here. But serious gamers will find that Home Improvement doesn't have the challenge or long-lasting appeal of some other platform games. And that's tool bad.

I'm not a fan of the TV show, so this never really sparked my interest. However, Home Improvement comes across as an intriguing action title with some cool weapons and excellent graphics.

Poor Tool Man, his one chance to shine as a video game star and Absolute blew it for him. Home Improvement isn’t a horrible game by any stretch, but it feels so unlike the television series that spawned it. Instead of a game featuring gimmicky level designs with a humor driven story line, we have boring gameplay set in a dull platform world rigged with tricky obstacles and unfair death penalties. Unless you’re a collector or prefer your games fractious, there are way too many other lost gems out there waiting to gain some recognition. Everyone else should go treat themselves to the DVD sets instead.

Well, here's what Absolute Entertainment devised: a side-scrolling action game, Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit, in which America's favorite handyman wields staple guns, picks, and jackhammers against an assortment of alien beasties. The game moves along competently enough, but there's something about watching Allen tussle with dinosaurs that makes me want to take out a tool kit and disassemble my Super NES.

It all comes down to the marketing geared towards making people buy a game that only loosely resembles the show it’s supposed to represent. Not that the show makes me sick enough, but when you mix in horrible gameplay elements and virtually unreachable goals, maybe then you can understand my overall contempt for this game.

Ein etwas einfacherer Schwierigkeitsgrad und das Spiel hätte vielleicht nett werden können. Sicher nicht super gut, weil einfach etwas Innovatives oder Interessantes fehlt und die Steuerung ihre Macken hat. Aber verbunden damit ist das Spiel einfach nur unmöglich.