I admit, I love watching Buffy. It has several elements of a great show; the mood, the characters and the plot are all interwined with each other and produces a show that's not only full of action, but never without a funny line or two in each episode. The fact that uber-babe Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as our mega heronie doesn't hurt either. Unfortunately, the guys over at Fox Interactive weren't able to bring the charm and the charisma to the Gameboy Color, and it seems that nothing short of Miss Gellar herself could save this game.

Much like the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has you running around various locals around Sunnydale, destroying demons and vampires and other creatures of pure unadulterated evil. There are 8 levels in the game, including the old mansion, the Sunnydale Zoo and the ever spooky Cemetary. When not in the middle of the action, the story is progressed by some rather simplistic cinema scenes that are mainly conversations between Buffy and her cohorts.

Speaking of graphics, the game isn't pretty, but it does a solid job of attempting to look clear and comprehendable. Even if the video game version of Buffy can't compare to the beauty of the real thing, the sprites are of decent size and animate decently, so you won't lose them amongst the various backdrops in the game. What really hurts me is the horribly drawn cutscenes. Now, I'm pretty sure that guys watch Buffy for two reasons; 1) good action and 2) Buffy, but when you take out the good looking heroine, you're asking for trouble. None of the characters in the game resemble their real life counterparts. Not even the vampires themselves! It's like Fox Interactive developed the game before doing the casting call for the actual TV shows.

Then again, I don't think it would take over 3 years to make a game that plays as simple as this one. Whether it was intentional or not, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is strictly a one button game. At it's core it is definitely a beat em up, but you do the beatings one... by one... by one. There are no ambushes by 2 or 3 vampires at the same time, they are all one on one encounters between Buffy and said generic demon spawn from hell. What's worse is that these fights are hardly difficult. Corner a vampire at one end of the screen (the screen does not move when you fight someone), knock him down with a down+A sweep, and then finish him off with another down+A, which will cause you to put a stake through him. That's it. What's even better is that this works for most bosses too. The AI in the entire game is beyond saving, which is too bad, because this is the sort of game you could have had a ton of complex strategies mapped out.

In short, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is definitely something I wouldn't recommend to anyone wanting a challenge. Even fans of the show might be turned off by the overly-easy gameplay and crude graphics. It's a shame that not much thought was put into the design of the game, because this is definitely a license that would have made it big, but with this entry, it might be looked at as merely sub-par.

· · · Reno