Parents Video Game Reviews for Families- Tarzan

Tarzan

Overall: B
Violence: C+
Sexual Content: A
Language: A
Drugs/Alcohol: A

Platform reviewed: Nintendo 64
Publisher: Activision/Disney Interactive
ESRB rating: E

Tarzan takes us back to the Super Nintendo days of the two-dimensional universe. The illusion of movement is created when the background and other objects crawl across the screen from left to right like a conveyor belt. By including fragments of Phil Collins' terrific soundtrack, a nice mix of jungle sounds, and smooth flowing graphics, the Activision people almost make you forget that it is not the most technically complex game.

You may even begin to doubt that the rainforest is really shrinking as you become Tarzan and work your way through the 18 levels that are similar to the scenes in Disney's animated movie. While strolling through the vines, you can pick up bunches of bananas (eating them will renew your stamina), coins, fruit bombs, and some basic implements of destruction like a knife or spear. These last two provide extra ways for you to move past those whom you may confront. Unlike the film, your Tarzan will need to eliminate a variety of enemies that stand in the path.

Although animals were the only aggressors I came in contact with on the levels I reviewed, I can only presume the introduction of bad-guy Clayton (a typecast Victorian colonist) and his gang of thugs in higher levels, will increase the violence. Encounters with any foes will decrease your health (as indicated by a bar at the bottom of the screen). Other challenges are physical, such as crevasses that need to be jumped or swung over. Failure to do so will result in a sharp descent and immediate loss of a life.

Activision's Tarzan includes three degree of difficulty to choose from. This will allow new gamers (not necessarily young ones...) to swing like a pro, while more seasoned chest-beaters can take the tougher course. Make sure to save along the way, otherwise your efforts to swing, crawl, and climb through ten levels will be gone after Fido trips over the power cord.

While I found Tarzan to be more fun than I expected -- especially the tree surfing (also a high point of the movie), I was disappointed that the premise still relied on battling and eliminating animals and humans. It may be a jungle out there, but for once couldn't we try to tame it in a more civilized way?

Rod Gustafson