Rally Pop


hwong3

Still Fresh
Joined
Aug 9, 2004
Messages
24
Rally Pop gp32_console is a simple Kong and Worms clone that's not going to really wow you. It's nice to look at and is relatively well executed, but has quite a few flaws:

Overview :p
rally_screen007.jpg


Generally you have one guy (a cell phone) and you battle one other guy in traditional Worms manner. You have six different weapons at your disposal and you basically blast away until you destroy the other guy or simply knock him off his platform into oblivion.

Graphics B)
Graphics are probably the best part of the game. They are colorful and have a very professional finish to them. The graphics include a static background and mildly scrolling foreground in which you're standing on. This gives, expectedly, a mild 3D effect that complements the game nicely. Animations when moving and firing are very good, but for some reason, the death animation is pretty choppy and loks more like a slide show. There are several boards (so far I've seen about 5 different boards, but there could be more). Each board has a different theme which helps a lot. Well executed and really looks good on the BLU.

GRAPHICS = 9/10

Music and Sound :unsure:
Like other standard GP32 commercial games, music is repetitive, but sufficient. It sounds like easy listening music infinitely looped, with some variety. It's unoffensive, well produced, but also unremarkable.

Sound effects are simple explosions and such. There is no apparent popping. Again, nothing special.

MUSIC & SOUND = 7/10

Playability :)
Well, here's the main problem. The game is great fun at first, but there doesn't seem to be any point. You fight it out with another cell phone character until you either win or lose. You win and proceed to a different board. Every three or so boards, the level of difficulty goes up (or "Upgrades" as the screen states). If you lose, you can continue or end.

There are six weapons you can choose from: a standard bazooka, transporter, healing kit, rain cloud (which is like a grenade with area effect), clock (for more time), and a squirrel (which is like a moving bomb which you can detonate when it gets near your opponent, by far the coolest wepon). The healing kit is almost worthless, it gives barely any health back, so unless you can find shelter, it's not worth using. A plane or zeppelin will come overhead every couple turns and randomly drop a weapon somewhere on the board. You can grab them and store them, but I'm not sure if it continues in your inventory from board to board (in fact I don't think it does). You have about 20 seconds to blast your opponent or else you lose your turn.

EDIT: I just wanted to mention that you have about six different characters which you can play, each with its own unique basic attack. Just FYI, it does add a little replayability.

The A button fires, the B button brings up the item select screen, the right shoulder button allows you to scroll and look around the screen during your turn. Movement is simple, left or right. Press up or down to change the elevation of your aim. A bar at the bottom of the screen indicates the wind direction and speed, which definitely effects your shot.

Now the biggest glaring problem -- NO Jump button. What's up with that? If someone knows of a jump button, please let me know, because I can't find it anywhere. Also, once you're done, well, you're done. No top 5 list, no ending, no story, nothing.

One cool addition is you can play via internet or RF connection. Now if I could find someone else within a 100 mile radius that not only has a GP32, but Rally Pop AND an RF adapter or internet adapter, maybe this would be really cool. But I don't. But I suppose it would be fun against a friend, particularly when you're killing time some where.

PLAYABILITY = 5.5/10

Overall
Rally Pop is a decent game with pretty nice graphics. But the game itself isn't very compelling. It's closer to Kong/Bananas from the BASIC days than it is to Worms, which is a shame. A few minor additions could have made this game pretty good. For instance, adding a Top 5 or Top 10 List for high scores, adding team on team battles (2 on 2 or 3 on 3) instead of just 1 on 1 battles, adding a jump button (maybe to the left shoulder button since it doesn't seem to do anything anyway) and maybe including a simple storyline. It's decent if you want to kill time commuting or waiting in line, just not really great. For the 8,000 KW (about $6.90 US Dollars), you can download it from Joy GP at www.entware.com. You can also buy the card version in the box from Lik-Sang/Play Asia for about $24.95. For under $7, it's a fund game to have on the side, but I wouldn't pay $25 for it, unless you do have a friend with an RF to play against.

OVERALL = 7/10 :rolleyes:

BTW, check out this great site for more info on Rally Pop, including a list of available weapons and their stats:

http://www.gp32eu.com/GamesSites/RP/about/about.html

Ha Kung
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/hwong
 
xenon_soft posted on Sep 1 2004 at 05:42 PM said:
Good review B) I love this game a lot.


Thanks! You wouldn't happen to know if GamePark still supports this game and whether they would consider an update would you? I was thinking about emailing them about it.

Also, to make this game more interesting, we could post a top 10 board right here in this topic. Anyone up for that? For instance:

Place Level Boards Cleared Initials
1 1 6 HKW
2 ? ? ???

etc.

That way everyone could have a goal for the game!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
gp32_console Rally Pop Top 5 gp32_console

Please email me your initials, level and cleared stage, or just post to this thread. I will integrate them into the list. I'll take your word on it, so please be truthful!! I just want to make the game a little more interesting and thought this might help.

Thanks!! :D
  • :lol: 1st Place - HKW - Level 3 - Cleared Stage 6
  • :D 2nd Place - HKW - Level 1 - Cleared Stage 6
  • :) 3rd Place - ??? - Level ? - Cleared Stage ?
  • B) 4th Place - ??? - Level ? - Cleared Stage ?
  • ;) 5th Place - ??? - Level ? - Cleared Stage ?
 
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