Chicken Shoot (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

If you live outside of Germany you've probably never encountered this type of game on the GameBoy Advance before and the closest thing we've had in the UK is Konami's Silent Scope some years ago. The game in question is Moorhuhn which started off as a free PC download but quickly grew into something of a cultural phenomenon spawning a whole host of sequels, toys, games including both GBC and GBA outings. Chicken Shoot itself is also available on the PC and anyone who's been following the GameBoy scene will be well aware that this game was announced some time ago. As far as the public are concerned the substantial gap between the first mention of the game and eventual release can mean both good and bad things. Either it's been in development hell or the studio has given the project so much care and attention it's taken far longer than anticipated. Let's hope the latter is true.

Gameplay

There's very little complicated about Chicken Shoot and as the name would suggest it's all about shooting chickens. If you're playing alone then there are two different modes available: arcade and classic. To be honest there's little to separate these with only the game's length different. Arcade, for example has no time limit but in addition to shooting chickens you also have to protect Chicken Bill (the guy sitting at the base of the screen) from flying eggs as each time one hits him he loses some health. When all this is gone your game is over. Classic is much more like Moorhuhn and the action here is on a timer. What both have in common though is that you have to clear a certain amount of chickens before moving on to the next stage, which is well worth doing as different stages contain very different objectives. The Christmas section was one of our favorites taking place on snow covered roofs with extra points awarded for shooting-gift stealing chickens whilst they are over a chimney stack and so forcing them to deliver the package. Multiplayer fans will also be pleased as the game also has a head-to-head mode allowing two players to battle it out with the winner being the best chicken shooter.

Controls

Although the control system is quite simple it does take some getting used to, mostly due to the fact that the 'd-pad' not only moves the cross-hair around the screen but also 'pushes' the screen because the playing area is substantially larger than the GBA's screens both in terms of width and height. Your only other two main controls are shoot and reload. There is an option to change your weapon but there's good chance you won't even touch this, as you'll be far too busy blasting chickens.

Graphics

Both the graphics and animation are very much art school styled as opposed to a slick Disney finish. This has a charm of its own really and it's worth laying off the shooting occasionally just to view some of the humorous animations going on. Everything else, such as the front end and options, is very basic and there purely for instruction. It's a shame with games such as this though that you do get the feeling that a little more effort would have improved the overall package.

Sound

As with the graphics this is all very cartoon based although I have to say the music is far better than we've heard emitting from most GBA titles recently. The various level soundtracks are also themed so the farm has a banjo style hillbilly track, for example and the harbor has something of a nautical flavor to it. The sound effects are also pretty good but adding audio to cartoon titles has never been much of a problem (thanks in part to 1950's Warner Brothers shorts) and its use here adds much humor to the levels.

Final comments

Bearing in mind that this is a budget title, Chicken Shoot is a perfect game for when you want to relieve some stress for five minutes or so. More than that and you'll run into problems due to the lack of variety regardless of which single player mode you select. That said the multiplayer is enjoyable and beating your best score should keep you occupied for some time although again this isn't saved to the cart so keep a pen and paper handy. Overall a fun, 'pick up and play' title which should please adults who are becoming concerned at the growing number of games a little too violent for their offspring.

Pro: Initially Great Fun.
Con: Not Much Variety.
Final score: 5.5

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