From: tpehrson@javelin.sim.es.com (tim clinkenpeel)
Subject: [SNES] clinkenreviews:  Krusty's Super Dumbhouse / Smartball
Reply-To: tpehrson@javelin.sim.es.com
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 21:18:37 GMT

i rented two games over the weekend and played them as much as they merited.
below are reviews.  look for more in the future.
 _ 
(_ l i n k e n r e v i e w --------------------------------------------------- 
reviews follow this format: gameplay is summarized in a short paragraph.
next, i mention the highlights (if any) and faults (if any).  then an overall
rating is given on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being perfect and thus probably
will never be awarded).  i do not rate individual areas and average them, as a
game with incredible graphics (a 10) and horrendous gameplay (a 0) does not
equate to an overall five--who wants to spend in the neighborhood of $50 for a
couple pretty pictures?  old reviews are kept on file and may be requested by
sending mail to tpehrson@javelin.sim.es.com with the text 'review request:
<string>' in the subject.  all reviews with titles matching <string>
(wildcard) will be returned, or use "all" to receive all reviews.  my reviews
are my opinion, written with no intention to neither appease nor offend any
person or corporation. ------------------------------------------------------

the premise of krusty's super dumbhouse (intentionally misspelled) appears to
have been invented after the game was designed.  it is described in
condenscending jargon at the beginning of the game; in a nutshell to assist
rats to their death by creating a clear course to a machine that destroys them
by various choppily-animated means, complete with a simpson's fame character
standing by for no other real reason than to appear in the game and thus
capitalize on the success of matt groening's cartoon critters.

the game is a test of endurance -- can you tolerate the monotonous gameplay
long enough to get a level password (sparse!)?  can you stand the fact that
kicking and throwing use the same button and depend on adjacent objects
although there are four unused buttons?  it also has the wonderful (not)
misfeature of going from incredibly easy to insanely hard in a single leap.
thank god someone had the foresight to allow disabling the repetitive,
seldom-changing music or else severe headaches would accompany games exceeding
10 minutes in duration.  in the harder levels, indestructible laser-firing
death-machines are pitted against your pitiful-pie tossing (limit 10) alt-ego.

rambling on any further seems pointless:  i felt the game sucked.  if you like
puzzle solving games, and don't mind countless repetition to reach a trivial
goal (including walking down absurdly long dead-end corridors only to find a
non-helpful item that awards a worthless few points, for no other apparent
reason than to fill space or to wow simple-minded players with the scenery
scrolling by).

RATING: 2.0  -  not worth buying, not worth renting, not worth the plastic
case it comes in, let alone the chips inside.  seems to have been thrown
together, knowing they could make a few bucks of the suckers who read nintendo
power and believe every word of it.

---------------------------------------

*sigh* - like most rental games, SMARTBALL came without a manual.  regardless,
i was able to figure it all out with a few minutes of trial and error.  i take
it you are "jerry" (because you can collect 5 lettered flags that spell such -
last place you collected a flag is where you continue after dying), a blue
sticky blob capable of squishing into different forms, collecting objects by
engulfing them into your amoeboid puss and sticking to walls and ceilings.
the object is to reach the end of the level and destroy the boss on every
other level.

the idea (as far as i know) is unique and after a frustrating bout with the
controls i found it intriguing.  the game is not very difficult; i was able to
solve it after about 3-4 total hours of interrupted play.  there is no
continue feature, although after completion i decided none was really needed.
the bosses are easy to defeat if you take time to stock lots of projectiles
(up to 9 balls or 1 re-usable iron ball).  the music is solemn and enjoyable,
although some themes are re-used in later levels two and three times.  that's
ok, i realize that creating original scores is one of the more demanding and
time-consuming component of game construction.  like i said, it was pleasant
and at a reasonable relative volume so i'm not taking points off.  the levels
themselves offered enough variation to keep my interest.  most the characters
in the game are lil' cute creatures, so i took special delight in smashing,
piercing and blowing them to bits.  the artwork was simplistic yet adequate -
cartoony but appropriate.  nice use of colors.

OVERALL: 7.5   i feel this game would be great for younger players as they
could slowly build experience and progress, or a satisfying rental for more
mature players.
-- 
\clinkenpeel: aberrant analytical cynical agnostic idealist.  i exclusively /
/represent myself.  i do not offend anyone; however, some morons choose to  \
\offend themselves.  judge only those who you would have judge yourself.  i /
/don't practice what i preach - i'm not the type of person i'm preaching to.\