Game #1026: The Mummy(Gameboy Advance)

  Should've been left under the earth.

 I was never a fan of The Mummy, neither the movies nor the TV show, but the games were so cheap that I just had to get them. Maybe I shouldn't have.

 This is a puzzle/adventure game in which you play as the whole O'Conell family. Each member has a different ability, Rick is strong so he can push balls, turn levers, throw dynamite and hits the hardest... while walking super slowly. Evelyn's strength and speed are in between, she can shoot, um... sticks and can vault over pits as well as read hieroglyphics. Alex, their son, has access to magic spells and is the only character that can open certain chests, he is the weakest and runs the fastest. You can swap at any time by pressing R and every character gets their own health bar... which is a bit more problematic than it sounds.

 For you see, you need specific characters to clear specific tasks. If a character dies you are screwed unless you can fin a revival spot. And if you don't have enough money... well, good luck. Near the end of the game I had pretty much killed everything so I had to constantly get in-and-out of caves to respawn chests so that I could SLOWLY amass the money I needed to revive everyone. Getting myself killed was out of the question because I had pretty much cleared the dungeon, but since I couldn't open the chest and get the objective.... it meant the password wouldn't update and I REALLY didn't want to go over the entire dungeon again.

 Yeah, the password system isn't all that great. It's not based off your progress but rather goals, so every time you use a password you're back to 50 gold coins. And it could be a while before you get a new password.

 But the bigger problem is how boring the game can be. Everyone's running speed is pathetic, so you are moving to and fro ever so slowly. The puzzles aren't even hard, they simply take too long. Combat is awful too because your range is pathetic as well. I'll say this, the game was a bit more fun at first, so it's probably better enjoyed in short bursts.

 In short, The Mummy isn't a very good game, but I think they had the right idea, it's just that... they couldn't make the most of it.

 4.0