Buffy the Vampire Slayer Review
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a competent platformer that doesn't deviate from genre conventions in any meaningful way.
The Good
- It's a Prince of Persia rip-off!
- Some solid platforming.
The Bad
- It's a Prince of Persia rip-off!
- Presentation could have been better
- Sound is weak, at best.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a platformer based on the television series of the same name, which is about the ironically named Sunnyvale High and the undead that lurk about its campus. If you've somehow missed the show, it deals primarily with Buffy's difficulties balancing her studies with vampire slaying, and includes frequent jokes about how Buffy's career limits her dating options. While Indiagames' new offering features the likenesses of many of the show's cast members, and generally takes full advantage of the company's partnership with media giant Fox, it really has more in common with the original Prince of Persia games than with anything else. But, given the quality of those games, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, much of the gameplay borrowed from that classic series still holds up today.
In this adventure, Buffy must rescue her werewolf buddy Oz from a spooky mansion owned by the malevolent Drusilla, whose dark powers have left her face looking perpetually pinched. To aid her in this endeavor, Buffy has several tools at her disposal that seem somewhat inappropriate for her character. While Buffy has been known to wield a sword from time to time (usually to send her perennial incubus, Angel, back to hell), she definitely doesn't make a habit of shooting fireballs from her bared palms on the show. Inconsistencies aside, these weapons are perfectly adequate for dispatching the shambling ghouls and vampire bats you'll encounter in Drusilla's dungeon of delight.
Combat is only half the Buffy package, however, as the slayer takes equal pleasure in swinging from posts onto moving and disappearing platforms. These platforming puzzles are unapologetically culled from the Prince of Persia series, and don't seem quite right for the Buffy continuum. Yet this is a tried-and-true gameplay formula, and it works well for the most part.
Buffy's visuals are in line with Indiagames' trademark simplistic look, but benefit from an emphasis on eerie lighting. Slowdown is a considerable problem, though, as most of Buffy's attacks are accompanied by periods of lag. While the sluggish response time is disappointing, the game is still playable throughout its two-hour adventure.
Buffy's sound is really pretty lousy. While you won't hear much audio in the actual game, the opening splash-screen music is absolutely unbearable--the sort of shrill, irascible cry that might have been produced by an enemy banshee.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a competent platformer that doesn't deviate from genre conventions in any meaningful way. While the game could have used a few more coats of polish, it's a solid offering by current Series 60 standards.
- GameSpot Scoregood
Critic Scores
- IGN 7.8 / 10
- Mobile GameFaqs UK 71 / 100
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