An old school style game with great stunt mechanics

User Rating: 7.5 | Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster PS
Jackie Chan Stuntmaster is a beat 'em up/platformer, something like Mario/Final Fight. You play as Jackie Chan of course, and the story revolves around a Shaolin artifact and Jackie's kidnapped grandfather. Jackie must go around town beating up evil minions. Yay!

GAMEPLAY

I already mentioned the type of game it is. You progress through a level, beating up people and overcoming obstacles. You may have to run from a rampaging car, jump across trains/trucks, climb walls, etc. Many of the things you must do come right out of Jackie Chan movies, which isn't bad. (The whole game feels like Rumble in the Bronx anyhow) The fighting system is surprisingly deep for this kind of game. There is a punch/kick combo system, a throwing/grappling system, a flipping/somersault assortment, and then there's an awesome counter system, where you can reverse opponent's moves. When you pass a level, you unlock another one, and you are graded on various things, including "style" (Assortment of combos you use). When you die, a "take" is used up, and the takes are basically the equivalent of lives in a Mario game. You can collect dragon emblems to unlock stuff.

GRAPHICS

Yeah...the graphics aren't so great. They are colorful and have a charm factor however, and lighting seems to be used well. Texture work is ok. This is dissapointing, because the animations are superb for Jackie and some other characters. Jackie Chan actually did some motion capture work for this game, and the moves look awesome. No framerate problems or anything like that.

SOUND

Sound in this game is pretty good. The music always seems to fit. Voiceovers are corny but funny. Jackie does some voicework, and what he says suits the situation when he says it. The baddies say hilarious things, though repetitive. There is some racial stereotyping but it's not offensive, but light hearted (Baddies have obvious accents)

VALUE

The game is pretty lengthy and challenging, enjoyable overall. You can unlock some levels/items and try to beat your old score. The highlight is that you can unlock a behind the scenes video, an interview with Jackie himself.