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A Bug's Life for Nintendo 64 Videos >>
Summary For those not familiar with the Disney/Pixar movie upon which this game is based, Flik, the main character of A Bug's Life, is an ant. In an effort to increase his colony's grain production, he invents a grain harvester, which unfortunately runs amok and destroys a food offering that the ants were preparing to placate the Mafioso grasshoppers. Upon discovering this lack of an offering, the head grasshopper, Hopper, demands twice the food by the end of the season. After a trial, Flik is sent away from the colony to bring back bigger bugs to help fend off the grasshoppers.Thus begins the movie, and the game. A Bug's Life allows you to lead Flik through roughly the same sequence of events as the movie, in a pure 3D platform environment. It is your job to take Flik through 15 levels by throwing seeds and navigating the world. Sound As Flik goes about his business, several upbeat and happy tunes play, each of which seems to do a good job of fitting in with the surroundings. You won't find yourself humming along with any of these cheerful little ditties, but they do a reasonable job of setting the tone. The sound effects though aren't half bad. A large array of cartoonish noises and blurbs play while Flik dishes out his comments, bursts berries on bug's heads and bounces from leaf to leaf. Many of the bugs you'll encounter also have something to say in their signature voices as well, which most certainly adds to the charm. Honestly, there's nothing outstanding to be found amongst the lot here, but the sound effects certainly don't fall short of the mark.Gameplay A Bug's Life takes place across five lands, each composed of three levels. Levels include a number of different challenges, ranging from standard Mario 64-style affairs where the player is allowed to romp around a 3D world seeking out powerups and dealing with enemies to defeating bosses and more. While some of Flik's challenges involve flying around on a dandelion and other strange things, the common goals tying the levels together are to complete an objective, find the exit or emerge victorious in combat against a boss character. Not surprisingly, Flik will encounter a number of insect characters as he searches for a way to save his people; some will aid him, others will seek merely to end his quest. Friends from the movie, such as Manny the Magnificent, Rosie the Black Widow and Slim the Walking Stick, lend the player helpful advice and assistance along the way. Unfortunately, some nasty characters also make an appearance, as Flik must fight off grasshoppers, mosquitoes, spiders, cockroaches, earthworms, dragonflies and a host of other creepy crawlies. Several boss characters are just itching to get their many hands on him, ranging from the grasshopper bully Thumper to a hungry bird and Thud the Horsefly. Waiting for him at the end of the road is a final showdown with the grasshopper head honcho Hopper, which presents the ultimate obstacle to the player.In terms of gameplay mechanics, A Bug's Life is quite simple, although it isn't necessarily satisfying. As far as basics go, players maneuver through the various stages by using the analog joystick, although this is easier said than done due to an overly responsive control scheme that oftentimes will have you zig-zagging from place to place. The A button allows the player to execute a jump or ''butt-stomp,'' while the B button serves a number of functions ranging from tossing things to attacking enemies. Like any other platform game, A Bug's Life offers players a number of things to do while they move toward their goal, such as collecting powerups and searching for secrets, but they must also fend off the waves of hostile bugs being thrown at them. This is usually best accomplished through avoiding them by running or jumping, but a showdown or two with one of these nasties is inevitable, so it's a good thing Flik is well-equipped to handle the task at hand. By using the B button, Flik can toss berries at the various enemies, which will leave them with a nasty headache, effectively ending any threat they posed. Although Flik starts out with red berries, a relatively weak weapon with an unlimited ammo supply, different color berries can be found. These include blue berries, which serve as smoke bombs and cause anything hit to vanish in a puff of smoke; green berries, which home in on the beady little eyes of their target; purple berries, which also feature homing power, although they travel faster and pack more of a punch; and gold berries, which wipe out anything they hit in one shot. Despite all the gameplay mechanics implemented into A Bug's Life, the sum total of all its parts is nothing more than a standard platform game, and an easy one at that. Much as one must keep in mind that it's aimed at younger audiences, I couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly the first few levels could be completed, especially if you just run on by most of the enemies, and later levels aren't all that difficult either. On top of this, this version of A Bug's Life proves to have changed little since the PSX version was released, making it obvious that this was just a quick and dirty port. All told, this is hardly the game someone who'd played Disney classics such as Toy Story would be expecting. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member. Rating Reviewed By JMBEN87 joe bennettFrom ny Review Date 07/15/2000 Overall Rating  1 of 5 Rate this review? Summary Okay this is definitely not one of pixar and disneys greater achievments.i mean the lion king for sega was even better than this.The game's enviroments are totaly sloppy.The ps version at least was clear and playable.This is an un-thoughtof conversion that needed more work.i mean me saying a ps game looks more glamerous than a 64 game.c'mon Sound Okay they say this is one of disneys strong spots.Well not here it ain't.The sound can crackle and the apples splatting gets old real fast. Gameplay Okay there are some good points.First you have absolutely no camera problems as you did in the psversion and there is a extra mode.Although pretty easy and stupid the training mode does add to replay value.Control is okay.Give me a break i through fruits to kill bugs.oh wouldn't those apples be a bit bigger than the ant.The rest is totaly unthought of crap. Would you like to Comment? Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
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1.5 of 5
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