swopedesign's Full Review: Family Fun Pack 2 for Mac
If you have computer-savvy children and a moderately-powered G3 Macintosh, Feral Interactive's big family fun packs are more than appealing. In Feral's Family Fun Pack 2, family gamers enjoy three colorful, three-dimensional, humorous, often quirky, but always challenging titles: Worms 3D, Rayman 3, and Ghost Master. With engaging atmosphere, graphics, puzzles and game play, these three titles are sure to entertain any game-friendly family for a long time.
The Family Fun Pack 2 is also attractively packaged. All discs (3 DVDs, 3 CDs) come in one thick case similar to DVD cases that protect commercial DVDs, with space in the front of the case to hold the Worms 3D and GhostMaster QuickStart Guides and Rayman 3 Manual, keeping the entire Family Fun Pack 2 together in one place. If families can remember to put the discs away when not in use, this package will protect these games for a long time.
Recommended Minimum System Requirements
To run the applications in this Family Fun Pack 2, families will need a moderately powered G3 Macintosh:
700 MHz G3
Mac OS 10.2.3
256 MB RAM
3D Graphics Card (Open GL Compatible, 32 MB VRAM)
DVD ROM Drive
Worms 3D: Anything But Simplistic
The odd Worms from Family Fun Pack 1 are back in Worms 3D. Although the Worms Blast graphics in Family Fun Pack 1 were very good, the transition to the third dimension makes this more than a second-rate sequel. The 3D graphics remind me of many other 3D games textures and environments, but these average 3D graphics is offset by whimsical, witty and mostlly entertaining game play. The goal is the same -- lob grenades, missiles, pigeons, air strikes, bazookas, sticky grenades, uzis, dynamite, sheep and other exploding, quirky weapons across the playing field at opponents. Sounds simple, right? It's not. Not at all.
Like the cute but deadly weapons, the island playing fields, surrounded completely by a large body of water, are comparably quirky and dangerous. During game play for this review, I battled against the computer on what appeared to be a salvage yard with giant vehicles and tires strewn about; a miniature golf course with a golf cart, golf clubs and golf tees; and a deserted shipyard with cranes and construction debris. Since I'm not very good, and each game can take 45-60 minutes, I didn't get to any other playing fields. I die quickly. Besides playing against the computer army, players can also play against one another on the same computer or across a LAN (only with other Macs, not PCs, due to hardware dependencies) or through Game Ranger (this requires opening some TCP/IP ports).
The simple name and playful animated mayhem belies the challenge of Worms 3D. Worms 3D requires jumping forward, vertical jumps, back flips, and forward flips in addition to simpler movements to navigate the landscapes, climb up on buildings and other obstacles, and bridge wide gaps between structures. There are also key combinations to select and use assorted weaponry, and to manipulate several camera views from first person to blimp view. Thankfully, Worms 3D offers a tutorial to acclimate new players to game controls, weapons and utilities, which parents and children alike will find both entertaining and useful. Heck, some players may be tempted to spend all their time in this tutorial, since they can't lose and game play is still challenging.
In addition to digit dexterity, Worms 3D also requires a quick mind to recall where the enemy resides and to formulate strategies and calculate trajectories, distances and crosswinds (which change from moment to moment). Worms 3D requires never ending patience, too, since the CPU players are expert marksman, making nearly impossible shots! Unfortunately, this ability to frustrate players in even the first level makes game play less enjoyable in actual play than tutorial play. Worms 3D is anything but simplistic.
Rayman 3: Satisfying Puzzle Game in Cartoon Clothing
One of gaming's popular characters comes to the Mac for the very first time in Rayman 3, a cartoon-influenced 3D comic adventure. In many regards, it reminds me of games available on Nintendo, Playstation, XBox, etc, with time-based power ups and weapons. As Rayman, players run, fight, jump, fly and battle their way through Rayman's world against the Hoodlum Army. One of Rayman's strengths is humor: whacky things happen in Rayman's world. Players can acquire, throughout 5 realms, the Heavy Metal Fist, the razor-toothed LockJaw, the Shock Rocket which can shoot around corners, and other similarly quirky super powers and weapons. Most young boys who play video games will likely be familiar with Rayman or its type, understand how to work it, and therefore find it an attractive title. My 7-year-old son couldn't wait to play it!
Rayman 3 is a fun-filled cartoon adventure, in every way, from start to finish. Rayman 3 begins with an intro movie showing the lums being turned into hood-lums and the player, as Rayman, is awakened and his hands stolen by his frightened friend. Players are loosely led through the game by a flying green bug with an attitude who, interestingly enough, just happens to have a game manual. This friendly green airborne sidekick tosses out one-liners and witty criticisms and commentary throughout the game, much like the narrator in classic cartoons. Other characters in the game are classic cartoon types, too. Rayman's best friend, for example, is a plump, dimwitted blue amphibian-like creature, and the hoodlums are small black insects with glowing red eyes. These classic types will be familiar to children and parents. The violence in the game is less graphical than today's cartoons, too, a welcome surprise.
As noted above, the first mission is to find Rayman's hands, which are needed to activate key panels to open doors and raise/lower platforms and other switches. After this first mission, the player continues to chase André, the master hoodlum, through the faerie kingdom to the heart of the world. This is just 4 or 5 levels into the game, but the game does not end here. Instead, one of Rayman's friends must be transported to a witch doctor through a glowing portal in the floor to save his life -- he has eaten André. In the transitional warp, Rayman turns boarder, leaping between glowing platforms and ramps as they speed by while funky disco-like music plays and psychodelic patterns transform across the screen. Each level, of course, increases in difficulty a bit at a time, and the player learns how to move Rayman through the game environment. Rayman must jump, helicopter, kick, punch, climb walls, climb vines, and more. It is a pleasant surprise that the game difficulty is neither stagnant nor escalated, so all players are not discouraged and grow with the game.
Rayman 3 is as much a puzzle and strategy game as a 3D adventure. Part of the increasing difficulty of the levels are increasingly challenging puzzles. Each level has a goal, i.e. find Rayman's hands, find André hiding in a faerie home in the wall, etc. To perform these tasks, the player must figure out how to close a door to stop the retreating barrel which hides Rayman's hands, how to scale vines on the wall to get to the faerie homes, how to jump between floating luminescent toad stools, how to activate armor-in-a-can, etc. These puzzles are, in fact, the true appeal and challenge of Rayman 3, while the cartoon finish, characters and humor create an entertaining atmosphere. Children who can use the computer and understand instructions will enjoy Rayman 3, as will their parents.
Ghost Master: Frightfully Fun Sim for Teens & Adults
This was the game I wanted to play! Ghost Master's motif is unique, defying common roles in strategy games: the player controls ghosts, ghouls, and goblins to haunt humans in Gravenville! Ghost Master offers 11 full 3D environments and 15 scenarios in which to terrorize Gravenville's inhabitants. Ghost Master is also steeped in movie lore and brims with horror movie parodies. Hints & tips are available on Feral Interactive's web site.
Ghost Master is modeled in many ways after the ever-popular Sims family of games. Game play is nearly identical to Sims, or so my daughters tell me. The principles are also the same: control characters in the game, in this case, six categories of ghosts, to achieve predetermined goals. Each ghost and scare method consumes plasma, which can be replenished by frightening humans. More plasma means greater scaring capability, and more fun! As Ghost Master, you have a 3D view of each scare field, capable of moving through and between floors like a ghost yourself, and zooming in and out of the scene as well. You also have clairvoyant insight into the mortals present in a haunting, including willpower, terror, madness, and belief. Your Ghost Master's goals are fulfilled when you scare away all the mortals at a haunting (they run away screaming!) and/or complete other objectives, such as release the tethered spirits that reside in the haunted dwelling. Released spirits, once released, are added to your fright team (permanently) and are immediately available to haunt.
Not familiar with the Sims? No problem! Ghost Master offers a particularly alluring (for teen boys and men anyway) training haunt, a girls college dorm called, playfully, Haunting 101, a nod to horror movies which feature similar characters. Haunting 101 features three floors of college coeds in bathrobes, towels and pajamas. As the Haunting 101 progresses, the game's disembodied voice-tutor explains the screen displays and their functions. For teen boys and men, this tutorial is great fun, scaring scantily clad young women into the street!
But Ghost Master is more than a frightmare. It is also a logic and puzzle game. A Ghost Master's goals are more than simply frightening mere mortals. The objectives between hauntings vary. In some hauntings, the Ghost Master must release fettered spirits. Sometimes this release is as simple as scaring away a particular mortal. Sometimes this is considerably more difficult, like breaking a particular jar. How to accomplish this? That's part of the puzzle. In other hauntings, the Ghost Master must also coax humans to move about the haunting and/or eliminate obstacles that hinder humans from taking a particular action, to achieve the goals of that particular haunting. What motivates the humans present? What obstacles need removed, and how is that accomplished? Especially when the fright team can't specifically act on any specific object? All part of this frightfully fun and challenging sim!
Children's Encyclopedia Britannica 2004 Edition: Not Particularly Engaging But Useful for Homework
Though education and knowledge are healthy and important, the addition of an encyclopedia to the Family Fun Pack 2 seems the proverbial sow's ear. Encyclopedias are never much fun. They are usually associated with homework. The Children's Encyclopedia Britannica is no different. Though a children's encyclopedia, written in short sentences and paragraphs that children can understand, there is nothing new or exciting about the Children's Encyclopedia Britannica 2004 Edition. The interface, though functional, is not particularly attractive or engaging, especially for children. Searches are convenient and fast. Articles, images, multimedia, maps and more are included in this encyclopedia. So it will be useful for children's research. I had hoped that perhaps this encyclopedia might have used an engaging, interactive game-like interface to involve children, with bright colors, cartoonish imagery, and thousands of random subjects each time the application is started, due to the quality of the games included in this Family Fun Pack 2. Alas, the Children's Encyclopedia Britannica 2004 Edition is your typical encyclopedia on CD.
Engaging Family 3D Gaming Fun that Helps Develop Problem Solving Skills
The Children's Encyclopedia Britannica 2004 Edition aside, the Feral Interactive's Family Fun Pack 2 is a collection of three engaging 3D games that entertain through atmosphere, strategy and problem solving. My children and I have enjoyed all three games to varying degree, according to our age and experience. The graphics in all three titles are bright, game play satisfying, and puzzles challenging. Problem solving is an important skill to develop in our children, and these games encourage players to consider multiple paths and strategies to complete missions and solve puzzles to reach their goals. Worms 3D, Rayman 3 and Ghost Master pack enough atmosphere and quirky charm to keep your family entertained for months.
*Originally written for and published by MacNN.com
In Ghostmaster your goal is to scare away the humans - command a small army of ghosts and goblins and watch as townies cry, faint and scream Worms 3D ...More at Amazon
In Ghostmaster your goal is to scare away the humans - command a small army of ghosts and goblins and watch as townies cry, faint and scream Worms 3D ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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