101 things to avoid?
101-in-1 Sports Megamix does what it says on the box. It has 101 sporting events that you can play on the DS mixing from Tennis, Volleyball, Bowling, Darts and many, many more. But is it a case of quantity over quality?
Absolutely. There may be 101 games in this cartridge, but it doesn’t change the fact that each one is nothing more than a terrible representation of it. For example, in darts the dartboard moves around and toys with you while you fling your darts at it, volleyball just requires you to be at the point of impact to make an automatic shot. If that wasn’t bad enough, you have to unlock the other games by repetitively playing the others to earn enough cash to buy them.
The controls are just awful, even bowling becomes painful to play using the stylus. I don’t think I’ve come across a more disappointing handheld game all year. The fact that only 10 games are unlocked from the start is incredibly annoying because to endure the rest of the terrible games, you need to grind for money to unlock them. There’s even a multiplayer mode, but I can’t imagine you coming across anyone else who might have another copy and if you did, I feel sorry for you.
The game doesn’t just play terrible, it also looks it with some of the worst DS visuals I’ve come across. I knew it was bad when I first saw a framerate collapse just showing the Nordcurrent logo. The games are very basic looking and make no use of the DS’ graphical capability. The sound effects are also pretty lame and lack anything redeeming.
The Verdict
I’d carry on, but it’d be a blood bath of pain for both me and you. Just because a game has 101 different games in it doesn’t mean its any good and sadly it’s never been truer than with this “Sports Megamix” collection. One word – Avoid.
