Shrek The Third GBA is a game that I came in with very low expectations. It's a game I decided to play as a joke- a friend gave it to me as, well, a joke and I told him I'd beat it just for laughs. So I have a few months ago and... honestly, this game isn't as bad as one may think. If we compare this game to Shrek 2 on GBA however, it's really a step-down. But first, the story.
- STORY -
Shrek and friends basically need to find Arthur Pendragon (Artie) to have him serve as king while Prince Charming is up to his evil plans to destroy the city, and eventually, in the end, you defeat Prince Charming and well, Artie becomes king. It's straightforward and simple.
- GRAPHICS -
The graphics... are kind of meh. The character sprites themselves are pre-rendered models and animations, from what it looks like the models in the console Shrek games. The animations aren't that bad but at the end of the day, the pixel-y mess of these sprites looks pretty ugly and definitely would've been better with a more 2D look to them. What kind of threw me off in the beginning though was how I noticed how often the game reused assets. Comparing it to Shrek 2 GBA, it really feels unoriginal and uninspiring in this department. They even use Madagascar characters in the beginning (such as the penguins) as random characters to talk to Shrek to give him tips. And the enemies are kind of random too. For example, the first levels again. They are... pirate's I'm assuming which makes sense, but not only do they kinda walk like zombies (for whatever reason? but) they also look like again, random assets along with many other enemies, which I think is a big problem with this game- after Shrek 2 GBA, they kinda got lazy and reused things which are unfortunate. Even during dialogue, the character portraits seem kinda random and so do some screenshots they used for cutscenes sometimes.
- LEVEL DESIGN -
Ohh boy the level design. The levels... really aren't bad. Honestly? I think they're kind of fun to play through, and switching between characters felt cool too. However, though, they do have their flaws. Let's start with my biggest issue... checkpoints. Yeah, there aren't any. As soon as you die, no matter how close you are to the goal, you get sent way back to the beginning. Thankfully, however, for the most part I think the levels aren't too long, but regardless that big problem is still there for those levels that are bigger. Not only that but once you die and restart a level if I recall correctly, you even lose any coins or anything else you collected, which can be REALLY frustrating especially near the end of some worlds where you need to collect enough fairies (which I'll get to later) to travel in the next world and backtrack. Another thing is how the enemies are placed, especially in narrow areas where you have to fight them, can be bad- it's rare but it does happen.
- CONTROLS -
The controls are pretty easy and have no problems whatsoever. Each character moves greatly and can use their abilities and other items rightfully. My only problem can be some attacks... specifically Shrek's. Shrek's main attack is pressing the A button to punch an enemy. The problem is that the punch hitbox itself is very close and so you have to be very close to an enemy to hit them... otherwise it's good.
- MUSIC -
Okay, the music... is actually good? Like, pretty good at that. If there is one thing this game is the best at it's probably its soundtrack. They all sound great for GBA standards and again, exceeded my expectations. Like for example, the final boss fight (Prince Charming) actually is pulled off really well. Like it's intimidating but... kind of feels a bit stupid in a way, which is PERFECT for the character in my honest opinion. Give it a listen!
- HEALTH, POWERUPS, COLLECTABLES -
Your health really depends on who you play. Some have less, some have more, so it's kind of a mixed bag. But I think they balance it well since some characters are definitely better than others, thus giving them less health so the player can feel more cautious.
As far as power-ups, there is only one I can remember and that is the apple, which acts as a bomb. I think it works well, you press Select to pick it up and use it but you can't attack when holding it for some reason, which is a bit of a flaw but not a big one when you try it out for yourself.
- BOSS FIGHTS -
The boss fights in this game can be.. pretty easy or kinda neutral, is how I should put it. Each one gives you different things to do, and they eventually get creative towards the final boss fight where it's more than just only punching the boss- you have to knock them out first by dropping a stage prop using a lever, which that in itself isn't really creative but considering how the game handles other things... it is. That's all though.
- CONCLUSION -
Shrek The Third for GBA may have quite a few flaws, but personally, I feel if you do play the game they won't be that much of a bother (besides the checkpoint feature). When you ignore the boss fights and bad graphics and reused assets, the levels and gameplay itself are rather enjoyable and regardless I still give the game a recommendation, and thus I'll rate it three and a half stars. So do give it a try when you can, just... probably use save states in an emulator. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.