Around the World in 80 Days 2004 By: Hip Games

Overview:

"Around the World in 80 Days" continues the tradition of Disney Games with great graphics, shallow content, and tepid gameplay. After reviewing a good amount of Disney titles, I've come to the conclusion that Disney games are enjoyed on a curve according to age. The lack of difficulty seems geared to a younger audience, and kids love their Disney games, I know I sunk about 100 hours into "Aladdin" as a kid. Make no mistake, older gamers can get caught up in the nostalgia of being reacquainted with characters from their childhood as well. Unfortunately, Jackie Chan doesn't evoke memories of Saturday morning cartoons, nor does he prompt thoughts of a favorite action figure, or a birthday party at the movie theater. "Around the World in 80 Days" has some enjoyable moments, but as a whole it feels like a game that was haphazardly thrown together, relying too heavily on gamer's attachment to the film.

"Around the World in 80 Days is a side scrolling action adventure game. The player assumes the role of Jackie Chan's charcter, named Passepartout. As Passepartout, the player will do battle with a wide range of enemies in a variety of cities including New York, Paris, London, China, and Turkey. The level backgrounds are one of the game's strengths, featuring colorful, detailed, and distinct backdrops. While the character sprites are blurry and graphically unimpressive, animals and stage objects are clear and well formed. The cut scenes that reveal the interactions between Passepartout and the rest of his party are well done and look like the characters from the movie.

The player navigates Passepartout through stages in search of four symbols needed to progress to the next stage. One of the frustrating elements of the game occurs when the player gets to the end of the stage, only to realize that one more symbol is needed to progress, forcing the player to backtrack through the level, where enemies have since respawned.

Passepartout is capable of impressive acrobatic feats, and is able to run, jump, slide, climb, and wall run, but the controls are too unresponsive for Passepartout's movement to be a high point of the game. "Around the World in 80 Days" doesn't present much of a challenge, except for a few bosses which I found to be completely overpowering and frustrating, the challenge dichotomy is a little bit bizarre because the game goes from snooze-fest easy to virtually impossible. "Around the World in 80 Days" does offer some enjoyment between the repetitive action and poor controls, but the jury is still out on whether it is enough to save this title.

Directions:

"Around the World in 80 Days" is a side scrolling beat 'em up title set in the 19th century. Players must find all four blue symbols to progress to the next stage. Many of the symbols are hidden atop hard to reach buildings, and will require the player to climb and jump to collect them. Collecting the symbols will increase Passepartout's health bar.

When Passepartout's health bar is completely depleted, a vial will be used to resurrect him. The vials function as lives, and the player will be awarded extra vials for collecting 80 golden coins, which can be found scattered throughout the levels. The player is able to see the exact amount of damage being taken and inflicted, represented by numbers that will float over the head of the character taking the damage.

Passepartout's vials, coins, and symbols are displayed on the play screen. "Around the World in 80 Days" does not have a difficulty setting, and uses the password system to restore progress. After the player's vials have been exhausted, they will restart at the beginning of the stage, there are an unlimited number of continues.