Based on the animated movie starring the voice talents of Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller and Brad Pitt, Megamind is the story of a super-villain who finally manages to kill his good-guy superhero nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt in the movie). Having done this he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight, so he declares the city crime-free. This is instantly made untrue as a new foe, Blue Tighten appears, who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to “out-baddie” Megamind and destroy the world along with his Doom Syndicate cohorts (Deconstruction Worker, Psycho Delic and Hot Flash). This forces Megamind into the confusing position of being the good guy for the first time in his life, and so he runs away and hides… Until he discovers that the Doom Syndicate have raided his HQ and stolen not only his B.I.N.K.E.Y. (Blue Ion Nano Kinetic EnergY) but also samples of his DNA, giving them the opportunity to clone him and make the ultimate super-bad guy. And so Megamind reluctantly sets out to save the day, to be BAD, BLUE, BRILLIANT, and to save the WORLD!
The game is basically a simple platform adventure with LOTS of shooting in it. Press ‘A’ to jump and a double tap to double-jump, ‘X’ is the action and the shoot button. It couldn’t really be simpler, and the only parts of the game that even resemble a puzzle are times when you have to find a battery to plug into a switch to open a door. A second player can join/drop out at any time and play as one of Megamind’s little flying robot helpers—the tiny robot has a laser and the extra firepower and its ability to get places Megamind can’t get to make them an invaluable companion, and make the game even easier to complete. There are plenty of destructible objects and just about everything you smash releases blue orbs of B.I.N.K.E.Y., and you collect the orbs to upgrade your weapons to devastating levels of destructive power. Each mission involves a platform exploration section with a boss battle at the end, they’re all nice and easy (too easy really, even imagining a young target audience) and the game was over before I really got a chance to get into it. It’s probably the easiest 1000 gamerpoints you’ll ever get, but still manages to be an enjoyable experience thanks to the humour and the game’s overall quality—some of the scenery in particular could be straight out of a much more “serious” game.
Between missions there are unlockable minigames to play; Pod Race (a wild ride around the city streets astride rocket ), Mega-Ball (roll Megamind around in a sphere, navigating a tricky maze of ledges and machinery a bit like the ball rolling sections in Metroid), Rampage (charge around the city shooting and stomping stuff in a mech suit), Sticky Boots (walk up the wall of a skyscraper avoiding falling objects) and Mega Blast (blast as much as you can with a big cannon). They all play well enough and add some variety to the game but they feel a bit disconnected, like it’d have been better if they incorporated into the missions themselves.
Fun easy to play, and even mildly amusing, Megamind: Ultimate Showdown is the perfect game to play along with the kids, especially if you had to take them to see the movie, but unless you get addicted to the minigames it won’t last too long, which might be a good thing, or a bad thing…
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