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Shrek® SuperSlam Review



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293 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 17344
Reviews: 293
Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:05 am
BrumalHunter says...



Shrek® SuperSlam is a game released in 2005 by DreamWorks Animation, Activision, Shaba Games, Toys for Bob, and Gray Matter. The graphics aren't mind-blowing, but it's decent, considering the release year; the gameplay is basic; and the game can easily be completed in a day or two. It also can't run on any OS this side of XP. However, it is wacky and fun, which is why I decided to review its characters, locations, and items. I don't expect anyone to read this, since I'll probably only write more entries when I am eventually similarly bored or not in the mood to read, write, review, plan, work, study, or play games. If you read it anyway, thanks.

So, I suppose I need a table of contents. Well, here goes - I'll start with the characters first, and of course, who else would be my first review than the famous Shrek himself?



Table of Contents


Characters
~ Shrek
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.
  





User avatar
293 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 17344
Reviews: 293
Mon Mar 21, 2016 6:08 pm
BrumalHunter says...



Characters






Shrek

Everybody in Western society (I can't speak accurately for other parts of the world, I'm afraid) probably knows this friendly, albeit highly unorthodox, ogre. He's humourous and lovable in the movies - Mike Myers voice-acted the role excellently - and in the games, he usually crushes all opposition. I say usually, for while he's certainly a fan-favourite, he performs dismally in this particular game.

When reviewing characters, I'll rate them according to their Attack Trees, Slam Attacks, Miscellaneous Attacks, and Appearance. These will be given in percentages, and to determine the final star rating, they will be considered in the ratio 3:3:3:1.




Attack Tree

In Shrek® SuperSlam, characters have two attacks: a Fast Attack, and a Strong Attack. Attack combinations always start with a Fast Attack, so it is your staple. Strong Attacks tie into these combinations, but they can also be used on their own as a single attack. Now, all characters have their own Attack Trees, which is a visual illustration of all their possible attack combinations. (In order to use a given combination successfully, the relevant keys/buttons must be pressed quickly after each other.) Each combination in the tree can receive a maximum of 30% for appeal and 70% for usefulness.

Fast-Fast-Fast
Shrek fights with his fists, but interestingly, he uses the flat of his hands more than actual fists. His first combination is a flat-handed smack with the right hand, a quick follow-up with another from the left, and then four counter-clockwise spins wherein he punches you with his right hand. It does decent damage and looks like it hurts, but the length of execution means an opponent can easily sneak in an attack and disrupt the combination.
♠ Appeal: 20%
♠ Usefulness: 45%
♥ Overall: 65%

Fast-Fast-Strong
One of the few things all characters can do is Block. Beside the obvious use of absorbing damage from attacks, it can also interrupt combinations if timed properly. Thus, the Block-Breaker was born. Shrek's Block-Breaker starts the same as his spinning roundhouse, except it ends with the ogre putting his fists beside each other in mirror positions and quickly smashing the opponent's Block - if they Blocked, that is. However, the attack looks boring, it does little damage, and it would be much easier simply to Evade Dash out of the way of Shrek's attacks rather than Block, essentially rendering the attack useless. (I'll get to the Evade Dashes later.)
♠ Appeal: 5%
♠ Usefulness: 20%
♥ Overall: 25%

Fast-Strong-Strong
Some characters have very powerful combinations called Big-Score Attacks. They are usually slow, but if they make contact... well, they deal massive damage and always result in a KO. (When characters are knocked out, they fall to the ground for a few seconds and become blue. While they are KOed, they cannot take damage, but they cannot attack either. By button-mashing the left and right move-controls alternately, your character can recover faster.) Shrek's Big-Score Attack starts with his Fast Attack, but then he brings both fists down on your head, pulling them away in an inverted "v", and strikes the opponent with a nasty right-uppercut. The execution is a little slow, and you can't use it too many times, lest the opponent predict your moves and Block right before the end, but it should be used whenever possible.
♠ Appeal: 25%
♠ Usefulness: 60%
♥ Overall: 85%

Attack Tree Total: 60%



Slam Attack

As the title of Shrek® SuperSlam indicates, this is the best part of the game. The winner of any Melee game is always the character who earns the most Slams. In order to gain access to your Slam Attack, you must first fill your Slam Meter, which is represented by the word SLAM. It starts out small and yellow, but the more damage you inflict, the more "Slamergy" you gain, and the more the letters expand and become green from left to right. When your Slam Meter is filled, your character releases a wave of power and gains an aura of red flames; the Slam Meter also turns red and pulses with the same aura. During this state, your Strong Attack is replaced with your Slam Attack.

The point is now to hit as many opponents as possible with your Slam Attack. If you hit at least one opponent, your Slam Meter empties and you have to repeat the cycle, so ideally, you want to hit two or three opponents, prompting the battle narrator to shout "Double Slam!" or "Super Slam!" if you do. If you failed to hit even one opponent, you lose a quarter of your Slamergy (the Slam Meter empties from right to left), but you get to try again. Fail three more times, and the Slam Meter empties completely with a powering-down sound. Beware, though, for if you take damage, you also lose Slamergy, and a lot faster than it fills - one fully executed combination is usually enough to send you from hero to zero. Slam Attacks are rated a maximum of 40% for appeal and 60% for how efficiently you can Slam opponents.

Green Storm
Shrek's Slam Attack is a flatulant release of gas that appropriately billows like a nuclear mushroom-cloud. The area-of-effect is small, so you have to corner your opponents to hit them. Using it above them accomplishes nothing, but if they try to jump over you, the rising fumes still hits them and sends them flying. (Shrek® SuperSlam's environment is completely destructible, so it's hilarious to see a Slammed opponent topple a tower or the like.) While very amusing to watch - the manual calls it "a real crowd pleaser" - the AoE means your opponents can easily dodge the slam. As my brother quickly learned, this, combined with the slow execution and vulnerability to attack as you chase after opponents, makes it very easy to end up with a depleted Slam Meter.
♠ Appeal: 25%
♠ Efficiency: 20%
♥ Overall: 45%

Slam Attack Total: 45%



Miscellaneous Attacks

While Fast Attack and Strong Attack are your main instruments of offence, there are still other factors that contribute to the success of a character. These range from actions as simple as Jumping and Throwing opponents, to more complicated techniques such as Dashing and timing your Charge Attack. Not all need to be used to claim victory, but knowing how and when to use them can mean the difference between winning and losing. All of them are considered equal nevertheless.

Double Jump
Shrek can execute a Double Jump, big deal. As with Blocking, all characters can do it. Jumping isn't technically an attack, but it forms a vital part of escaping your opponents' attacks and Slam Attacks. Shrek's performance in that regard is nothing extraordinary, so there isn't really much to say about it.
♥ Overall: 50%

Evade Dash
Since all characters can Block, all characters can Evade Dash too. It is one of the most useful manoeuvers in the game, since you perform an Evade Dash simply by moving in any direction while Blocking. You can either use it to escape the fray or get right into the middle of it. But still, Shrek doesn't bring anything special to the table.
♥ Overall: 50%

Wall Attack
No, you don't attack the walls of the environment. Okay, technically you do press the key/button for Fast Attack while running against a wall, but that's to make your character launch themselves away from the wall and attack their opponents at the same time. So, it's useful for getting out of a sticky situation, but there's just one problem. Yeah, Shrek can't do that.
♥ Overall: 0%

Air Wall Attack
Yes, these exist, even in Shrek's case. His Air Wall Attack isn't very useful, though, since he moves away from the wall horizontally, thereby missing all grounded opponents. In fact, it's difficult even to hit airborne opponents. I can't say I've ever used it, playing as him.
♥ Overall: 25%

Ground Dash
A Ground Dash is executed when you perform a Fast Attack and move in a direction at the same time. It's excellent for attacking opponents when chasing them or being chased by them, since it's mostly unexpected. If it is expected, don't be surprised if you're caught in midair and find yourself being thrown. Shrek never has to worry about that, since he doesn't have a Ground Dash at all.
♥ Overall: 0%

Air Dash
It works exactly the same way as a Ground Dash, except you have to be in the air, just like with an Air Wall Attack. If other opponents are in the air, there is a chance you may hit them, but I generally use them to escape or approach enemies without being on the ground (which can be very useful when an opponent's using their Slam Attack down there). Fortunately, Shrek is capable of performing an Air Dash, the irony of it notwithstanding.
♥ Overall: 50%

Air Attack
To me, a character's Air Attack is really important. Whether I want to use it at all depends solely on the concerned character, since the last thing you want is to be Up Attacked (another thing all characters can do, and if you hit your opponent, you always deal a lot of damage, and you always KO them). Characters' Air Attacks differ greatly - some of them are diagonal, others are vertical; some are slow, others are fast; some are rendered futile by Blocks, others break those pesky blue bubbles. Shrek's is a vertical Butt Drop that causes a shockwave when he hits the ground. Is that useful? A little. Is that amusing? Very.
♥ Overall: 60%

Charge Attack
When you press and hold the key/button for your Strong Attack, it begins charging. You can release it at any time, but it is advised that you wait for a red flash to emanate from your character before you do, since that means it's fully charged. Shrek's Strong Attack is like a right-roundhouse, except with a flat palm, so he smacks you instead of punching you. When you charge it, he interlaces his fingers and pushes them away from him to crack them, and then he smacks you. Whether the attack is charged or not, your character will become dizzy when hit. (A dizzy character can't attack, but they can still be attacked. You also can't button-mash to recover from it. Dizziness is also caused when you hold another character for too long, since they automatically escape after enough time has passed, or when your Block is broken.) I don't think the damage dealt increases much, if at all.
♥ Overall: 40%

Charge Throw
When you pick up a weapon, an item, or another character, you can throw them. In the case of characters, you can even hold the key/button to throw them farther and deal more damage. Can Shrek do this? Nope, he just tosses you.
♥ Overall: 0%

Miscellaneous Attack Total: 30%



Appearance

Shrek's default appearance is wearing his signature white long-sleeved shirt, brown leather pullover, plaid pants, and brown shoes. Of course, since all four players (whether NPC or player-controlled) can be Shreks, there have to be at least four different skins.

Default
As I've said, there is Shrek's famous attire, but the other options are very unoriginal. There can be four separate teams, namely red, green, blue, and yellow. Shrek's white shirt could work for Team Yellow, so he also has a red, blue, and green shirt to accommodate the other teams.
♠ Appeal: 50%
♠ Availability: 0%
♥ Overall: 25%

Puppet Shrek
In the Story mode, the Dronkeys must be put to bed, so the friends all tell bedtime stories. In Puss-in-Boots' final story, he, along with Shrek and Fiona Ogre, go to confront Dr Pinocchio about his scientific experiments. During the confrontation, Pinocchio turns Shrek and Fiona into puppets, leaving Puss-in-Boots facing all three. Beat the story as Puss-in-Boots, and you unlock the skins for Pinocchio, Shrek, and Fiona. Sadly, Shrek's isn't nearly as creative as Fiona's, so while it is rather difficult to obtain it, I rarely ever use it.
♠ Appeal: 30%
♠ Availability: 100%
♥ Overall: 65%

Appearance Total: 45%



Shrek Total: 45%





All things considered, Shrek is an overrated character. If you are a die-hard Shrek fan, Shrek® SuperSlam will either be a disappointment or a source of rage. If you can look past that, though, you'll be fine. After all, there are nineteen other characters in the game, and all of them are playable. But please, just don't choose Shrek. Nowadays, I only ever use him when my brother complains about losing the whole time and demands I handicap myself.
But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
— Paul the Apostle

Winter is inevitable. Spring will return eventually, and AstralHunter with it.
  








The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.
— H. L. Mencken