Reviewed: September 3, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Crave Entertainment
Vivendi Universal
Developer
Runecraft
Released: August 13, 2003
Genre: Racing
Players: 2
ESRB: Everyone
4
5
6
4
4.4
Supported Features:
Butt-Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom! is the latest budget title to arrive from Crave Entertainment, and while I can certainly respect their desire to release budget games targeted toward the younger crowd I fear this one may be just a bit too low budget for even pre-teens to accept.
Zoom or Doom is essentially a hovercraft racing game designed for kids who are too young to grasp the more complicated games like Wipeout, FX-Zero, Quantum Redshift, and just about any of the countless other racing games out there. It also attempts to cash in on the license of a short-lived Nickelodeon series, and much like the series, I doubt this title will get very much screen time.
In all fairness (and I am going to be a lot more gracious than other review sites), I have to grudgingly admit I had fun with Zoom or Doom despite a total lack of any substantial contact and some graphics that would only be considered acceptable on a PS1.
Zoom or Doom features:
- Nine race tracks with hidden drag racing tracks and bonuses
- Story driven, 3D action-combat racing featuring unique hovering space craft
- Seven of the most popular characters from the Nickelodeon television series
- Two player capability with a split-screen
- Special Kids mode with simplified controls and ease of handling
In their attempt to make this game enjoyable for kids Runecraft has basically taken out any type of challenge or difficulty. The futuristic hovercrafts are immune to physical damage from scraping the walls, so no skill is required to follow or stay on the curvy tracks. You can simply hit the gas and make a halfhearted attempt to steer the ship and still win the races. Compared to games like Wipeout where surviving a race was more of a challenge than winning one, Zoom or Doom is quite literally “child’s play”.
This isn’t to say you are totally immune from damage. There are track side obstacles and various weapon pick-ups that will momentarily interfere with your race around the track and stun your ship, but after a few seconds of spinning out of control you will be right back in the race, often in the same position. There are a surprising amount of power-ups with varied effects but none of them really seem especially useful except for the booster, and even that is unnecessary as you can probably win the race without it.
The selection of craft and the racers who drive them aren’t that different and you can easily win with any one you decide to use. Zoom or Doom uses the infamous “rubberband racing” that slows the AI racers down if you should fall too far behind. Even on the hardest difficulty most gamers can finish this game in its entirety in about five hours.
The track designs are rather inventive and offer some interesting features like multiple paths and avoidable hazards but it’s hard to figure out what path is a shortcut when you are going to win the race regardless. Collision detection is not the best and you’ll often go spinning out of control when it looks like you have plenty of clearance between that other ship or hazard.
Zoom or Doom features several modes such as the Conqueror’s Cup, Practice Mode, Time Attack, Speed Challenge, and Battle Challenge, and there is support for two-player racing via split-screen, which will definitely offer you a greater challenge than the single-player modes, but not that much more enjoyment.
While not exactly “butt-ugly” the graphics aren’t exactly up to PS2 standards by any means. There are lots of interesting track designs and sometimes the level of color is surprising, but the ships are crude and not as cool as other futuristic racing games.
Special effects are simple and don’t begin to tax the power of the system. There are some typical weapon effects like shockwaves and some minor particle effects, flames, steam, and such, but it’s all fairly low resolution and unimpressive. To its credit, the framerate is generally smooth and offers a decent sensation of speed and the pre-rendered movies are quite good, both in content and quality.
The music definitely stands out as the highlight of the title with techno beats and dance tunes that I would expect from the big-budget racing titles. It certainly overpowers the weaker and less-inspired sound effects.
There is even a smattering of speech included using the same voices from the show. The acting is surprisingly good (by Nick standards) and the opening movie had me laughing aloud more than once. The in-game speech is sparse and repetitive to the point of getting downright annoying.
You can fully exhaust everything the single-player game has to offer in 4-5 hours, even if you are 10-12 years old. The game is just not that difficult and there isn’t enough of it to keep you busy longer than that despite the deceptive appearance of all the game modes.
The multiplayer modes may add 2-3 more hours but in the end, even the kids this game is designed for will be looking for more challenging and “mature” racing action. Even at $19 this is a tough game to recommend. If you are the slightest bit curious then give it a rental, but at best this is a $10 purchase so wait for the bargain bin.
There really aren’t that many games targeted toward the 12 and under crowd so I hate to bash a game when one finally arrives for that audience. Butt-Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom! is just too shallow and way too easy to challenge or entertain anyone of any age for any substantial period of time. Fans of the show may want to rent for a day but all others can simply stay away.