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Review: Bugdom 2Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner Review Date: December 1, 2002
I once killed a grasshopper. I didn't feel good about it, though. I had to do it for biology class in high school. We had to collect and correctly identify 32 types of insects. 32 was the minimum for an A, so our teacher recommended we identify more than 32 for security. I didn't. I stopped at 32. I know they're just insects, most of which are extremely annoying, yet I couldn't help feeling guilty each time I dropped one in a jar with that cotton ball dipped in super-highly-deadly-kill-o-bug-bug-killer, or whatever it was. It made me sad. Actually, that's only a half-truth. Although I only killed 32 bugs for myself, I was always happy to kill bugs for the cute girls in the class. Sadly, any points I scored with them were immediately negated by singing, "I don't need a hymenoptera" to the tune of Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero." Regardless, as I was playing Pangea Software's Bugdom 2 over the past couple of weeks, I kept expecting my giant, computer rendered fingers to come swooping down, pick up Skip the grasshopper, and drop him into the jar o' death. It didn't happen, of course, but there was danger enough facing poor Skip already. He didn't need my desperate attempt to curry favor with the sophomore girls in Mr. White's biology class.
Anyway, so this "bully bee" comes along and steals Skip's knapsack. In an attempt to get it back, Skip will venture through myriad hostile environments, being attacked by everything from yard gnomes to fleas to vacuum cleaners to...Otto Matic. Yes, even lovable Otto Matic is hostile towards grasshoppers, it would appear. Skip's only defense? His legs. He can kick. He can also fly for short periods and occasionally happens across invincibility bubbles, but he's otherwise protected only by his wits. Oh, and some more insects, actually. There are butterflies scattered about that, when shattered by Skip (this greatly upset my wife, who loves butterflies), yield either strawberries for extra life, blueberries for more flying power, or little bees that can be launched at Skip's enemies. Skip also has friends along the way, Sally the Chipmunk and Sam the Snail. Sally will give Skip checkpoints or maps in return for an acorn, and Sam will give Skip keys in return for some sort of favor (free the rats, collect the red clovers, etc.). Oh, and the acorns. Kicking the acorns reveals green, blue or yellow clovers that can be collected for points. Occasionally, these acorns also produce the aforementioned invincibility bubbles as well. These are usually revealed just before they could prove to be quite handy, so use them wisely.
Before I get to that, though, I'll cover the trademark of all Pangea games; the graphics. Whereas most first- or third-person shooters tend to be dark and dingy, grays and browns, Bugdom 2 is brighter and more colorful than a circus explosion. Although dangerous, the world of Bugdom is a basically happy place with flowers, ponds...and some occasional clipping. Yes, sadly, on my 867MHz G4 with an ATI Radeon 8500, I did see some graphics anomalies. Nothing too bad, though. Certainly not anything that detracted from the game. Actually, not every level in Bugdom 2 is bright and happy. On one level, for instance, Skip's mission is to clear all the fleas and ticks from a dog. Yes, it's true, you spend the whole level on a dog's hide. It's a very dark place, and almost creepy...you can see the eyes of your enemies glowing red off in the distance. Likewise, the level in the closet is just as dark. There, you're confronted by moths, the dreaded vacuum cleaners, and computer chips? Well, computer somethings. I'd say they were inspired by the grid bugs in Tron except that these things actually served a purpose. It makes you wonder, though, who keeps this kind of stuff in his closet: dozens of shoe boxes, family photos, active computer equipment (using ATI graphics cards, even), running vacuum cleaners, lit firecrackers...better not let the insurance agent know about this.
My favorite level, however, came when Skip took to the skies in one of those rubber band propelled airplanes. Suddenly, the game felt more like Freeverse Software's Wingnuts, with Skip's mission being to bomb all the anthills while avoiding the frogs and shooting down the other insects that don't take kindly to Skip being in their unfriendly skies. These three levels provided the greatest challenge in an otherwise simple game. Perhaps too easy, actually. Too easy, and too short. As I mentioned before Pangea games appeal to both children and adults, to both males and females. This is because they manage to be cute and light while still providing plenty of action. Although the action is there in Bugdom 2, it's not quite as intense and, therefore, ends too quickly. I'll assume this was a conscious decision by Pangea to make the game even more kid-friendly, but it will disappoint more serious gamers looking for a serious challenge. Oh, and to make the game even more accessible to children, there is an option that stops the enemies from attacking altogether. Why don't games such as Star Wars Jedi Knight II have this feature?
I suffered no crashes in either Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X, and my Macally iShock worked in both operating systems (although Apple has forced us back to manually configuring our game pads in OS X). Good thing, too, as Skip is quite difficult to control with just the keyboard or a mouse/keyboard combination. Bugdom 2 is fun. I don't think there's any denying that. However, that fun will either wear down or simply end too quickly for many gamers. Younger gamers, however, or those just getting into Mac gaming, will probably enjoy Bugdom 2 all the way through. Fans of Pangea games won't be disappointed, either. It's not as inspired as Bugdom or Otto Matic, but it's a sequel. Sequels are rarely ever inspired. Still, it's different enough from Bugdom to at least feel fresh, and it brings along a few innovative levels. Sometimes, that's all a game needs. And what's more, no real bugs have to die by my hand, and no girls have to be wooed by my adaptations of Tina Turner hits. I may not have ended up with a date from that class, but I did get an A on the project.  [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Bugdom 2 is the sequel to, oddly enough, 
As with Nanosaur, Bugdom, and 
Taking a queue from Otto Matic, Pangea changes up the action in Bugdom 2 to keep in interesting. Breaking from the third-person shooter feel, two levels require you "surf" through a drain pipe and sewage system. Pangea used elements such as this as part of levels in their past games, but here, they're the level itself. They're also more difficult. If you should die on either, you have to go back to the beginning.
I should point out that the music is also very good. Although not quite as inspired as soundtracks from Pangea's past (mainly the marvelous score for Bugdom), it did capture the feel of the game.