By Matthew Scott Hunter
LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: ANNIVERSARY (T)
***1/2
Eidos
PlayStation 2
That Lara Croft is one faithful lady. She’s faithful to old school platforming, faithful to the spirit of the genre she helped to craft, faithful to just about everything about the original “Tomb Raider.” And generally I have nothing but praise for fidelity, but there are some things about the original “Tomb Raider” that are well worth ditching.
In the 11 years since “Tomb Raider” began, Lara and her franchise have had their ups and downs. And while this 11th anniversary remake allows us to reminisce about what made us fall in love with the adventure platformer, it also draws attention to the aspects of “Tomb Raider” that haven’t aged well. Lara’s blocky breasts benefit from a little next-gen surgery, and her ingenious, cavernous puzzles certainly hold up, but her battle mechanics are even more annoying than they were back in 1997.
I have as much nostalgia for the original “Tomb Raider” as Lara does, but with the recent “Tomb Raider: Legend,” she’s moved on. It’s cool that Lara and the original game can still be friends, but she definitely needs to keep moving forward.
FORZA MOTORSPORT 2 (E)
****
Microsoft Game Studios
Xbox 360
“Forza Motorsport 2” comes astonishingly close to pleasing both the casual gamers who just want a sleek-looking race and the hardcore racers who want the realistic physics of their cars to spin them out on every turn. The game offers a less condescending tutorial than the original, while still sporting enough realism to have you sniffing that new car smell. But the tracks lack imagination, which will inevitably leave casual gamers longing for “Burnout.”
SURF’S UP (E10+)
***
Ubisoft
Wii
I have to give “Surf’s Up” credit. Most kids’ movie tie-in games simply shoe-horn the film’s premise into a generic beat’-em-up platformer where you collect coins. But “Surf’s Up” offers something specifically tied to the movie: surfing. Sure the controls are simplistic and the trick variety non-existent, but at least you’re not beating up penguins in a game that should have nothing to do with beating up penguins.
DEATH, JR. AND THE SCIENCE FAIR OF DOOM (E10+)
**
Konami
Nintendo DS
It should be no surprise in a “Death, Jr.” game that death is a recurring theme. Most of the time you’ll die because the controls are excruciatingly imprecise, but occasionally you’ll succumb to inexplicable suicide. DJ can supposedly hook his scythe to hard-to-reach ledges, but tends to ignore this when there’s nothing but doom below. I suppose if your avatar’s name is Death, he’s likely to have a few nagging, subliminal impulses.
When Las Vegas Weekly contributor Matthew Scott Hunter realized his career as a lab technician was seriously interfering with his gaming, he pink-slipped himself into a successful career as a freelance writer. Bug the hell out of him at [email protected]