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Tout: After years of churning out nothing but Crash Bandicoot titles, Naughty Dog brings a new franchise to the forefront on the PS2. Review: With a humble beginning on the 3DO in the form of a rather substandard fighting game called Way of the Warrior, Naughty Dog became a break out developer following the introduction of the first Crash Bandicoot game on the PS1 back in August of 1996. Although the first Crash suffered from being on rails (a downfall that plagued the three sequels as well), the gaming public seemed to have a real affinity for the character of Crash, ensuring the viability and success of the Crash property. In fact, Crash was so popular that he managed to end up in a kart racing game (the surprisingly good Crash Team Racing) and a party/board game title (the very mediocre Crash Bash). Perhaps realizing that the Crash franchise has gotten somewhat stale, Naughty Dog decided to make yet another platformer in the same vain as the numerous Crash games - the end result being Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. While Jak & Daxter and the numerous Crash games share a commonality in the form of a cartoon-like visage, thats essentially where the similarities end. Jak & Daxter is a fully 3D free- roaming platformer, similar to such titles as Super Mario 64, Rayman 2, and Banjo-Kazooie to name but a few. Its also one of only a handful of platformers currently available for the PS2 (Rayman 2: Revolution and Klonoa 2: Lunateas Veil being the others), and it excels in virtually every respect. Prior to actually playing the game youve got to sit through an intro that explains various storyline elements. The storyline isnt really a necessary element in order for one to enjoy the game, but it is somewhat interesting. Regardless, the intro cant be skipped, so you might as well watch it. In any event, it goes a little something like this. Jak and Daxter, two boys and the best of friends, venture out from their village to Misty Island, a creepy and mysterious place that their village elder, Samos the Green Sage, has explicitly warned them not to visit. While there they discover two villains and a small army of gruesome looking monsters hatching a plan to harness all the worlds Dark Eco (more on Eco later) for their own malevolent purposes. Jak and Daxter notice that theyve already managed to collect some Dark Eco and have stored it in a pool. A monster attacks Jak and he destroys it, but in the process he knocks his pal Daxter into the dark eco pool, thus transforming him into a furry ferret-esque creature. Daxter is none too pleased with his newfound form, so the two consult the Green Sage and decide to head out on a quest to restore Daxter to his original self. The first thing thats really apparent upon initially playing Jak & Daxter is how beautiful it looks. From the moment you begin to play the games graphical splendor shines through. Over the course of the entire game that splendor remains constant, if not increasing as you progress. The enemies youll encounter as well as Jak and Daxter themselves animate very nicely and add a fluidity that supplements the lush environments really well. Everything - from the stages, to the enemies, to the other miscellaneous characters and the stages themselves - all of which are replete with lots of vibrant color. The amount of light even changes as day changes to night and back again. Its a nice, subtle touch that shows attention to detail. There are sixteen interconnected stages, or areas, that comprise the world Jak and Daxter inhabit. In each stage there are a number of objectives, ranging from two to eight depending on the size of the stage, that need to be completed. These objectives vary quite a bit, from helping a rancher herd some cattle to catching fish for a fisherman to saving some moles for a geologist. After completing an objective youre rewarded with a Power Cell, and these cells accumulate as you earn them. You can also pick up Precursor Orbs, which are scattered through every stage. These too accumulate and are used in some instances to gain Power Cells. You can progress through the game without having every Power Cell, but getting them all - 101 in total - will allow you to see a special ending (its not really that special though; quite a letdown). Completing the objectives is fun, though some of them are quite difficult and will take many attempts to successfully clear. Neither Jak nor Daxter ever function independently of one another, so some of the moves involve both of them. When Jak does a move not requiring Daxter then Daxter simply sits on Jaks shoulder. Jak can throw Daxter in a dash-type attack, Jak can jump and then dart directly downward, Jak can duck and crawl, Jak can roll, and Jak can double jump. Getting to certain areas in certain stages and accomplishing certain tasks will require that you familiarize yourself with Jak and Daxters repertoire of moves. Additionally, the myriad types of Eco found throughout every stage come in to play often. There are five types of eco, each of which bestow a different attribute on Jak and Daxter. Blue Eco speeds Jak and Daxter up and allows them to open certain portals in the ground containing Precursor Orbs. Yellow Eco lets Jak throw fireballs - useful for instances where you need to or want to kill enemies from a distance. Red Eco simply makes every basic attack more powerful. Green Eco replenishes energy, and Dark Eco - contained within crates littered throughout the game - do significant damage if you accidentally come into contact with it. All that said, as good as the game is, it isnt without its flaws. Very occasionally theres a little bit of slowdown, usually when a lot is happening on screen at once. Also, and most significant among the flaws, is the amount of damage you sustain when hit versus how quickly you can replenish your life. Jak and Daxters life gauge consists of one big heart divided into three sections. Each section of heart is composed of fifty small Green Eco pieces. If and when an enemy hits you youll lose fifty of those pieces, or a full one third of your maximum amount of life. In contrast, killing an enemy will yield three pieces of small Green Eco. So, if you get hit by one enemy youll have to kill about sixteen more enemies to regain the amount of life you lost by getting hit just once. There are crates with Green Eco lying around that prove very helpful, but they dont fully compensate for the above detailed problem. There a few other things as well that arent really problems but fall more into a "wouldnt it have been nice?" category. Things like more moves - attacking moves and non-attacking moves, faster running speed for Jak, a longer quest, and better regular and special endings. The latter two - the quest length and the endings - are, admittedly, toss-ups. The game isnt really short, its just so enjoyable that when its over you find yourself wanting more. And the endings arent bad, theyre just a little under whelming and anti climactic, but your mileage might vary. When you get right down to brass tacks and look at Jak & Daxter as a total package what youll find is a really good platformer that succeeds on a lot of fronts and suffers from some very minor flaws that only serve to keep the game from being nearly perfect. Hopefully Naughty Dog will make a sequel and address some of the little problems found in the game. If you enjoy platformers then you should definitely get a copy of Jak & Daxter. Its a great game that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike and is an experience youll remember long after youve finished playing it. Overall:
Gameplay: 4 -Ian Johnston
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