El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera

I'll be honest, I am the kind of guy who would always appreciate licensed games since I have played them a lot as a child. There are plenty in the PS2 era that might not be as good as the movies/shows they're based on, but they can be fun to play in the end. This one unfortunately was not the case. The El Tigre video game is a massive disappointment that doesn't live to how I would anticipate to be introduced to the show. And because the show was cancelled after one season, it seemed that the game didn't have time to provide anything to introduce any newcomers that haven't even seen the show. I do see the game is going for that has a lot of potential with the direction of indie gaming in 3D as well as the good graphics that does all it can to be respectful to the show. But they're not enough to make up how the plot is entirely rushed from start to finish. It only had four levels, and they all didn't take enough time for me to enjoy the gameplay. No scavenger hunt, no boss levels, not even dialogue when interacting with other characters. All the plot wants to do is rush through the gameplay and get over with it. Short pacing gameplays are not always bad, but since we are talking about a licensed game on the show, it barely introduces anything to newcomers like myself to what the show is about and who the characters are. I tried hoping for it to get better with the bonus levels, but they're extremely struggling. In the bonus levels, I can't even brake a grocery cart. It just goes in the game speed that I get hit right out of nowhere. I honestly don't think anyone can have a good time with the game because how it inspires very little from the show. Even for fans of the show, I'm sure they would be better off with the series. I really wanted to like this game. It did have the right tools to be something special for it to gain the show some more fans. I have never watched the show myself but regardless, this is nothing more than a cash grab. I know there technically was an episode in the game, but I never got fully into the show. Maybe when I do get the chance to watch it will be better, but the game certainly has not given me its good first impression.

This game is based on the Nickelodeon show with the same name, which I admit I haven't watched, just heard of it. These games are usually bought by those who are fans of the source material, or people who just find it by accident in the store while browsing, and decide to buy because they like the cover. I'm just someone who grew up, like many, on platform games, and still love playing those games at 20...like few, I believe. So... this game gained my interest. What to say? I think this game is great, but totally ruined by it's absurdly tragic and ridiculous length. I don't think that more than 2 hours are needed to finish the game. It's not far from looking like it's a demo. It can actually be described as some kind of promo game. I could perfectly imagine this game disc next to a special edition DVD of the show with a sticker on it "Free El Tigre game included!" Actually, I wouldn't care much about all that, if it wasn't a great game. It is actually something, which have, well had a lot of potential. A bit of a jump back to old-school 2D platform games, the game still has its own, unique style. The main thing which it relies on is timing. When to jump and how. There is a double jump function, but when on a bouncing surface, you can jump again a second time in the air. In the fourth (and well...last) level, you need to control every single of these three jump to not to get killed by spikes or other lethal things. Other than timing, it's about time as well. Yes, you are a against the clock. Although there are parts, when you HAVE to finish in a certain amount of time, but usually it's just part of your score. It still might not be clear why I said it had potential. Well, it's just really simple, and really fun. By simple I do not mean easy (by the way, first the game seems pretty hard, but when you get into it, it becomes easier..also checkpoints are at every corner...) but I mean that it doesn't complicate things by adding extra-powers, combos, several collectible items, puzzles and so on. It does something which has already been done a lot of times, in a simple and fun manner. Actually in the game, you don't lose lives, since you don't have any, but it indicates in the upper corner how many times you died. Kind of strange, but shows that the game is mainly about scores: finishing the levels fast, and dying the least time possible. That are the only things which gives the game some replay value, other than that there isn't much sadly. To finish all I can say is: a really fun, but really short ride.