Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7633 in Video Games
• Brand: Acclaim
• Released on: 1999-09-15
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: PlayStation

Editorial Review
Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny hop from the tube to the PlayStation in this mischief-filled game. You'll have the daunting task of saving South Park from a comet heading straight for South Park. In a bit of humor that is typical of the South Park series, the comet is visible only every 666 years. Defense comes via an arsenal of weapons that includes sniper chickens, cow launchers, snowballs (white and yellow), and Mr. Hanky the Christmas poo, who leaves a trail of you-know-what. Among the enemies, which change with each of the game's five episodes, are loud-mouthed turkeys that pop from the butts of larger turkeys, as well as mutant clones.

South Park's five episodes are broken into sublevels and are introduced by familiar characters, such as Chef. Of course, this game is filled with warped and off-color humor. For example, a fart sound denotes toggling between menu choices and a tally for quantity of helpless animals killed. You weren't expecting this game to be politically correct, were you?

Drawbacks include the repetitious music and character voices, as well as the slow onscreen movement, which impedes the game's multiplayer capabilities. The simple graphics used in the television show do not translate as effectively into this format. Lastly, the playing area is too expansive and visibility is often limited due to the white-on-white winter setting. --Kasty Thomas

Pros:

• Unique introductory scenes
• Warped South Park humor

• Simplistic graphics
• Playing area too expansive, often with limited visibility
• Slow movement response

GameSpot Review
Remember that show South Park? Remember how amazingly funny the movie was? Remember that lame first-person shooter that Acclaim put out for the PC and N64? Now that some people have started including the phrase "back when the show was still funny" in their descriptions of South Park, Acclaim has released its already weak South Park 3D shooter on the PlayStation. The game that is not only old (the N64 version was released about ten months ago), but it is also devoid of any fun whatsoever.

Rather than stick with existing voice work, Acclaim produced custom speech with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Isaac Hayes, so the storyline is properly voiced throughout the game. The speech really goes a long way in making the story (a comet is passing near South Park, wackiness ensues) at least listenable. Each episode is broken up into a few sublevels. The enemies usually remain the same from sublevel to sublevel and change entirely between levels. The first episode forces you to deal with hundreds of insane turkeys, while the second pits you against hundreds of mutant clones. The enemies change, but the game pretty much remains the same. You, playing as one of the four kids, pick up the other three kids. From there, you have a couple levels packed with the enemy du jour as well as with larger versions of enemies called tanks, which generate the smaller monsters. Occasionally, you'll get tossed into a level where you must destroy several tanks very quickly to keep them from destroying South Park. Then you'll face the level's boss, save the town from destruction, listen to Chef talk about how good you are, and move on. The Chef cutscenes are done in prerendered video clips, and they look as though someone had hooked the N64 version of the game up to a VCR, recorded all the clips, and digitized them for the PlayStation version. The game also has two-player multiplayer, but the weapons (dodge balls, dart guns, etc.), level design (way too big), and player movement (eternally sluggish) really don't lend themselves very well to the multiplayer game.

Speaking of level design, it's really quite bad, but given the license, it at least makes sense. You'll spend a good portion of your time in extremely large, open areas, such as the middle of the street, large fields, and the like. This leads to a very close horizon, complete with loads of pop-up. Plus, since the ground and fog are both white, you'll eventually spend some time staring at a completely white screen, hoping that you're actually moving and not just bumping up against a wall of snow. Sure, it's a cold, snowy Colorado town, so visibility is naturally low, but it still gets in the way of the gameplay. So with the fog as bad as it is, you're forced to stare at your radar almost constantly.

South Park (the show) has a pretty basic art style. It's pretty hard to mess it up. But the PlayStation version, with its reduced-poly models and bad video quality, somehow manages to look absolutely terrible. The only thing uglier than the graphics is the in-game sound - 90 percent of it is the repetitive, super-annoying noises made by the monsters. Five minutes of constant turkey gobbling in the first level will be enough to drive some from the game. Also, the kids speak from time to time, usually to announce that you've acquired a weapon or item, but this, too, is extremely limited and repetitive.

Between the abysmal graphics, bad sound, and horrible gameplay, South Park is definitely one of those games that is bound to come up when you start thinking about the worst game you've ever played. It's a real throwback to the days of completely worthless games with decent licenses - the kind Acclaim used to be infamous for back in the days of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming. South Park fans looking for some interactive action would do well to wait for South Park Rally or Chef's Luv Shack. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

So much potential!
I love South Park and I really hoped that this game would do the show justice, but I found that I was very disappointed with the graphics and the sound. I was hoping to see the boys in action, but all I saw was one of their arms that was supposed to be an extension of me. I also agree with the other reviewer that had trouble with the white on white setting. It can also be a little tough for people who are prone to motion sickness. South Park 2 ..please!

A party rental, at best
Plodding first-person shooter with tons of fog to conceal thegraphic weaknesses. One-player missions are tedious. Only redeemingfeature is to play the two-player game with other "South Park" fans, and then only if you've gotten the codes to unlock favorite characters.

Even with friends, you'll tire of it in a day.

Do I sense the words cash in?
Why did they bother with this? Acclaim said "All South park fans will love this... Captures the show's humour perfectly..." Since when? I have never played such unfunny, unplayable tripe in all my life! Firstly the gameplay, terrible is my view. Foggy vision, humourless weaponry and a terrible idea for a plot!

The characters for the game are even worse! listening to Stan shouting rubbish such as "You mother ......! I kick your ...!" after being hit just gets extremely annoying!

If you are a fan of the show you'll buy a video set and enjoy it. Rather than tarnish the name of a hit comedy by playing this rushed awful package!

Avoid it!