GBA: The Three Stooges by Cinemaware

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I just noticed that this is already released in the U.S.

 

Can anyone comment on it and/or compare it to the old Amiga version?

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Snider-man]

I've been waiting for a review myself. Never owned the Amiga version, but I played the hell out of the C64 version back in the day and I also currently own the NES cart for those Emergency Stooge Fixes.

 

Cinemaware had some great stuff - 3 Stooges, Rocket Ranger, Defender of the Crown, It Came From The Desert. It's wonderful to see such a stawart in gaming history returning with these classics for newer consoles.

[Scooterb23]

Here is your 30 second review of the Three Stooges for the Game Boy Advance.

 

I originally wore this game out on my C64. Quite possibly my favorite C64 game ever. So I logically jumped on this one as soon as I saw it in a store.

 

Graphically, the game is almost identical to the C64 version. Obviously, things are cleaned up a bit, and the animation seems to be more fluid, but overall the graphics were not changed.

 

I don't play my GBA with sound on, so I can't relate how good the sound effects are, needless to say, they aren't crucial.

 

Gameplay is where the biggest changes are. They have tweaked every mini game a little bit.

 

- The pie throwing contest plays about the same, but there is also a pizza throwing competition (exactly the same gameplay).

 

- The oyster cracker eating competition is a LOT HARDER. On the C64, when an oyster popped out of the soup, it would stay there for a second so you could grasp the cracker out of the mouth. No more, when an oyster pops up, if you are not already grabbing at that cracker, it's lost.

 

- The hospital game plays the same, but your goal is different. In the old game you tried to race through 40 hallways before time runs out. Now you have to collect as many dropped surgical tools as you can before you hit 3 patients.

 

- The "Boxing" game is about the same, only it seems a lot shorter, and a lot easier for Larry to make it to the radio store, and back to the arena.

 

Everything else is just as you found it in the original; even the title screen when they walk into Defender of The Crown instead of their own game!!

 

Bottom line, if you see this game in the store, and even have a slightly nostalgic twinge hit you, buy the game. Some of the minor tweaks might frost a purist, but they don't detract from the game at all. Also, it seems a lot harder to come up with the $5000, I used to be able to do it all the time with ease, but the best I've ever done in the GBA version is about $3850. Time to get back to it I guess!!

[Cybergoth]

Hi Scooterb23!

 

Thanks for this excellent review!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Scooterb23]

Not a problem...it doesn't seem like the game is being pushed too hard, but I think it is a wonderful game...any chance I have to get the word out on a good game, I go for it. A hidden gem on several systems over the past 20 years