Name:
Pandemonium!
Developer:
Crystal Dynamics
Publisher:
BMG Interactive (UK, Europe),
GT Interactive (US)
Year:
1996
Platform:
Sony PlayStation,
Sega Saturn,
PC
Genre:
Platformer
Players: One Player
Rarity: Very difficult to find new, reasonably easy second-hand
PlayStation Game Code (UK/Europe): SLES 00526
"The Fastest 3D character action game! Moving 3D camera showcases the huge, highly detailed 3D worlds."
Blurb from box information
Pandemonium! is a
two-dimensional platform game with
3D graphics, created by the Calfornian
devco behind
Gex (erk) and
Soul Reaver (woo!),
Crystal Dynamics. The game is based around the plight of
Fargus, the
jester (with his 'talking' stick,
Sid), and
Nikki, the youngest member of the
Flying Fleugel Family, after finding a book entitled '
Ancient Wizards Spellbook'. Neither of them being 'fully trained or licensed to use' the
tome, they accidently summon a huge
demon, who proceeds to wreak
havoc in their world. Checking the book again for the anti-spell, they find they need to search out a
boon from the
Wishing Engine. Using the map from the spellbook, their journey begins...
You have a choice between
Fargus or
Nikki as
playable characters, and you can select which you would like as your
guide before the start of each level. Each character has a
special move that the other cannot perform.
Fargus has a '
tumble', which
kills enemies without taking any damage himself.
Nikki can perform a
double jump (which I think is the more useful of the two unique moves). Both characters can
bounce on top of enemies in typical platformer style to destroy them. As well as special moves, both characters have the opportunity to
morph into various
creatures, namely,
dragons (who can
fly and breathe
fire),
rhinos (who
charge through enemies),
frogs (who
jump extra high) and
turtles (who can be
invunerable when hiding in their
shell). There are also a number of
pick-ups and
power-ups to collect, which range from the cliched
coin, to
hearts for
energy,
ankhs for
extra lives, and a number of different
weapons, such as
fireballs, and
freeze rays. Don't forget those ever-so-useful
keys and
shields as well, their purpose self-explanatory.
Pandemonium! is basically a
side-scrolling platform game, only using the 3D graphical capabilities of the
PlayStation for
eye-candy. It's not really new, or fresh, or exciting. It looked pretty in screenshots, but when you see the game running, you realise that there is no depth or possible exploration available. I remember this game being touted by
Official PlayStation Magazine as a
Super Mario 64 beater. Sure, Pandemonium is
fun, but it's
restrictive,
unoriginal, and mostly
frustrating 'fun'. And definitely no Mario 64 beater.
Good points about Pandemonium!?
It has a nice
musical score, and pretty graphics for the time. It's a good
challenge, too, the later levels being particularly
fiendish.
Bad points?
Terribly
unoriginal, doesn't use the 3D environment to its full potential.
A sequel was made for the
PC and
PlayStation, known as
Pandemonium 2. Similar games include
Klonoa and
Tomba.