Antz Extreme Racing
Antz Extreme Racingby Vivendi Universal
Platform: Xbox
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
ASIN: B000066BZ3
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Features:
• Drive vehicles such as sardine tins and soda cans
• Compete against Princess Bala, General Mandible, and others
• Face competitors in 5 worlds
• Avoid huge holes, bumps, sticky jam, rocks, nails, and oil
• Explore the Anthill, Forest Park, and the Frozen Pond
Manufacturer's Description: In Antz Extreme Racing, all of the insect tribes take part in a championship series that lasts throughout the four seasons. Take the wheel behind vehicles such as sardine tins and soda cans, and prepare yourself to beat the gorgeous Princess Bala, the master manipulator General Mandible, Colonel Cutter, Azteca, and the good-hearted Weaver. Face your competitors in five different worlds: the anthill, the forest park, the frozen pond, the city, and Insectopia. Pick up bonuses along the way and avoid giant obstacles and hazards, including huge holes, bumps, sticky jam, rocks, nails, and oil.
Customer Reviews:
Strong graphics, good gameplay, so-so value, October 1, 2002
Reviewer: fair_deal_guy from Prior Lake, MN USA
This is one of those games that's hard to classify. On one hand, it's a pretty good racing game that's easy for kids to master and enjoy the heck out of. On the other hand, it seems to be built in a hurry. The worlds are vaguely imcomplete, the racing controls tend to lag a little (even on the super-fast XBox platform) and the characters lack, uh, character. When a game is based on a movie, you anticipate a lot of the style and substance of that movie to be reborn in the form of the game itself. In the case of Antz Extreme Racing, the characters are clearly an afterthought. You could plug in any fictional cartoon character in place of the Flik, et al, and still have the same experience. In that regard, the game is a disappointment. On the whole, though, the graphics are first-rate (this is an XBox game, after all) and the gameplay will keep kids entertained. It's a good fit for the 5-9 age group.
Too Little Too Late, September 24, 2002
Reviewer: Kevin T. Rodriguez from Citrus Heights, California United States
The movie "Antz" was a computer generated movie from Dreamworks made for adults and stared such big names as Woody Allen and Gene Hackman in it. That was four years ago in 1998, this is 2002 soon to be 2003 and the movie is forgotten by the general public and remains somewhat of favorite to a select number of people, most of which are adults. I'm not sure who decided to green light this project but I would have taken in these factors before deciding to go along with the project:
1. Is the franchise still proffetable?
2. Can you market a go kart game off a movie made for adults?
3. If you're planning on making this for kids is "Antz" something that kids will really want?
4. Is there enough intrest in this movie to release a game and still make it profitable?
5. If there is only a minimal intrest in the game can you still sell it ...?
Sadly I think the no's out number the yes's this time. What we have in the end is kids game based off an adult movie which is not highly profitable anymore coming out on a system made for adults at a {small} price! In other words I don't think this title will even sell all it's invantory in stock...I don't even think it will pass the 2,000 units mark. Neglecting all the things this game had going against it in the first place I must also add that the game just simply isn't any fun to play. We've seen better kart games before, the graphics have been better, they've played better, and this game can be beaten in an hour.
So I guess you can predict that I'm not recomending this title right? Well that's the thing I'm actually going to let this game off on the hook and recomend this title to a certain extent anyway. It's one of the only games on XBox your kids under 5 will be able to play, it's not a very expensive way to keep your kids occupied, and it's a much better kid game then "Shrek." I'm not sure what was going on in the developer's head when they made this, but the end product just screams un-profitable! But like I said it will entertain 5 year olds for a few hours so the choice to buy or not is up to you. But if you're an adult then you might want to pass this one up.
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