Over the years, the image of the typical mad scientist has been engraved into our minds. The standard usually includes the usual white lab coat, the wild, unkempt hair with the maniacal, bulging eyes. Probably Gene Wilder’s character in the movie Young Frankenstein sums up the picture perfectly. Well, gamers now have the opportunity to play their very own mad scientist in Midway’s Dr. Muto. With the funky glasses on his nose, he has all the key ingredients to allow him to join the exclusive club.
The game begins in a dream sequence where Dr. Muto is receiving an award for creating the ultimate power supply source ever created. However, things go awry when the machine is activated and it accidentally blows up the entire planet. Obviously shaken, our hero awakens to discover that it wasn’t just a dream. He really did blow up the place in a big way and resolves himself to make right once was wrong by creating a machine to rebuild the planet from the ground up. However, the glitch in the system is that he must traverse around the galaxy to find special items to transform his blueprint of retribution into reality. Most of these places are teeming with baddies and only by utilizing brains over brawn does he have any chance of success.
When I started playing Dr. Muto, I can honestly say I wasn’t planning on it being a life-changing experience. Since it was a new property by Midway, with a completely new mascot, one can typically expect games of this nature to be less than spectacular. In fact, games like this are usually a dime a dozen and have more problems than positive aspects. Surprisingly, I was more than wrong.
Usually, 3-D platformers suffer from camera issues. Even those in the upper echelon of the category have some problems here and there. Those that get sorted into the “also ran” section have such strikingly drastic problems that the ability to just play the game becomes questionable. Although Dr. Muto does not improve in this area over such proven giants like Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper, it does manage to keep the player in the game without many instances of not being able to see where you are or the cause of repeated cheap deaths. The camera usually stays close to its assigned position, but there are numerous other views, and a quick correct button, that you can use when your view is less than perfect. A slow or clunky camera is normally my biggest complaint when attempting games of this nature and I can honestly say that not once did I fling a string of colorful metaphors for leaping where I couldn’t look.
The other big issue with platformers is creating a reason to hunt through every dark crevice playing hide-and-seek with tons of collectible items. Fortunately, Dr. Muto gives the player an intelligent reason for creeping and crawling through dusty corners and sewer pipes. Not only are you looking for the pieces to put your machines together, but also trying to gather as many powercells that you can find to keep your computer back at the lab running at full capacity.
Luckily, Dr. Muto is not empty-handed as he is armed with a hand laser that will usually obliterate any foe that he comes across. However, there are some that are immune to this power and must be disposed of by using the tractor beam option of his hand remote and flinging them into walls or off of one of the many cliffs. These are not the only power-ups that Dr. Muto gets to utilize, for there are many special extras that aid him in his quest to rebuild his planet. The strangest has to be the Wille E. Coyote rocket boots that hurl our hero high into the air for limited amounts of time to gather those normally unreachable collectibles. The look on Dr. Muto’s face as he shoots for the stars is nothing less than pants-wetting and is worth repeated performances just for the laugh value.
The big twist that separates Dr. Muto from the rest of the pack is his ability to assume the form of multiple creatures by acquiring the DNA of the various baddies populating each level. Each additional persona has unique abilities and it is necessary to swap often to work your way through the rather ingeniously designed levels. But, combining the correct DNA sequences is not the easiest thing you could imagine and players must gather quite a few of them, from different combinations of monsters, to put all the pieces in their correct place. Nevertheless, the reward is worth the effort as every Muto-ish creature has it’s own abilities and attributes that will make your gaming experience nothing less than pure pleasure.
Every creature will have a different way of handling the foes that will stand in their path. The first alter-ego that you get exposed to is the Muto Mouse. It is this little squeaker that gives you the biggest challenge as his size does make things difficult when facing larger enemies. But, he is a quick little sucker that can squeeze into the tightest areas and get the goods that most of the larger forms could only look at from a distance. His exact opposite is the Muto Ape, a large, hulking creature able to butt-bounce just about anything that stands in his path into a pancake. However, his weakness is speed. Honestly, he has two speeds, slow and slower, both of which make catching the smaller creatures a true challenge. There are about an additional half-dozen other beings that Muto can morph into, but I don’t want to ruin the fun and excitement of uncovering them for yourself, Nevertheless, I can truly say that each one is a real gem that needs to be experienced and they add quite a bit of extended shelf-life for the game as you experiment with which forms might be able to get that last elusive power cell.
Even though the Muto Zapper is only available in Dr. Muto’s human form, all of his alter egos have ways to take care of themselves, and some can even assist in gathering DNA strands form other creatures. In fact, during the boss battles you will have to switch back and forth between them to get the job done right. The first boss has an exposed toe in his armor and only the Muto Mouse is small enough to whip it. Then, while he is hopping in pain, you can either transform into your human guise or that of the Muto Ape to deliver a more powerful, life-draining blow. Then, you have to swap back to the mouse once he recovers to start the process over again.
The controller layout is exceptionally user-friendly and reacts instantly to any action initiated on the controller. Gamers have the option of inverting the up and down axis, which always is a nice touch for those gamers who like their down to be up and turning the vibration function on or off. You also can change the 3-D camera from active to passive, depending on your personal taste and even activating a capture camera when you acquire new DNA strands.
If you are a veteran of platformers, you are going to have to recondition your way of thinking if you plan on having any success with Dr Muto. With most games of this nature, what you see is what you get. Not with this title. Level design is nothing less than ingenious. Not only do you have your standard 3-D platform jumping and baddie killing, you also get to experience some good ol’ fashioned 2-D side-scrolling adventure. Furthermore, you really have to get used to looking your environment over utilizing the first-person view to find those half-hidden ladders or ledges to get to the upper level platforms normally out of view of the standard third-person camera. Some levels will require you to go back through after you have unlocked additional characters because of their special abilities of jumping, climbing, swinging, flying or swimming.
To actually achieve 100% completion will require about twenty hours of trial and error gameplay. Luckily, Dr. Muto has an unlimited amount of lives and works off of a checkpoint system so you won’t have to start a level completely over if you take the semi-eternal dirt nap. One additional nice touch is that once you collect the DNA from a creature and kill it, it does not reappear on the level upon repeat visits to get you confused over which ones you have acquired and which ones still need to be collected. The same goes with any crates containing energy ions or special items. However, monsters or crates that offer health regeneration will reappear every time you return or restart a section.
Visually, Dr. Muto gives gamers everything they could desire, and then some. From the well-crafted full-motion videos, all the way down to the character animations that occur when you leave the controller idle for an extended period of time, Midway has brought forth the complete package. All of the different planets are theme based and the subtle details will keep your attention throughout the entire game. Even the various baddies that you face will have unique actions before and after they notice the presence of your character. Levels are colorful and full of little touches here and there to keep your interest peaked. Furthermore, there is no real visual difference between the platform versions. So, if you are a multiplatform owner, your only real choice is in the preference of which controller feels more comfortable in your hands for a title of this nature.
The audio portents of the game are just as impressive. The voice-acting is some of the best I’ve heard ever in a video game and Wally Fields plays the part of Dr. Muto to a tee. However, the good doctor is not the only one that gives players an earful. Dr. Muto’s computer, Al (obviously a twist on HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey) sounds just like the stuck-up, know-it-all that he really is, and also is performed by Fields. The background noises and music keeps the player’s interest all the way through the game. There is no doubt that you will want to keep the sound on when playing through the multiple levels that each planet offers just to hear the splat of an enemy or the wisecracks dished out by AL as he offers you advice. There are separate audio controls for the background music, special effects and the voices, so you can tweak the audio output to your personal liking. Another good thing is that besides the normal mono and stereo options, gamers that have their systems hooked up to a surround sound system can enjoy the Pro Logic setting for that true immersion into the game.
Dr. Muto comes with a built-in movie player. No, that doesn’t mean that you get to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. Rather, gamers get the ability to rewatch all of the excellent FMVs (Full-Motion Video) without having to restart their game. Also there are two ending movies that need to be unlocked. One opens when you finish the game and the other becomes available once you achieve 100% completion. Believe me, the second ending is definitely worth going back into the game to find those last few missing items. There also is a cheat section tucked away in the game options menu for those that enjoy those out of the ordinary gaming experiences.
Like most of Midway’s recent titles, there is a “behind the scenes” video that gives you a look at the development team responsible for the game. You also get a close-up look at the artwork and drawings that went into the creation of the game. Gamers are also given the opportunity to check out two other Midway titles with the inclusion of Haven and Defender promos. I know that I say this each and every time I do a review of a Midway game, but these are the little extras that add that special touch to the game itself and really are a nice way to give the inquiring gamer more than most game producers on the market today. We all know that there is usually unused space on the DVD disks, and these all pull double duty without any added cost to either the producer or the consumer. Once again Midway, bravo for giving us that extra special effort.
Believe it or not, Dr. Muto succeeds where more seasoned franchises fall flat on their faces. For gamers disappointed with the latest renditions of Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon, this platformer gives you everything that these elder series used to and then some. Midway has put together the complete package and brings forth a solid gaming experience from the word go. Although you shouldn’t expect this title to unseat genre leaders like Mario or Ratchet and Clank, you definitely get your money’s worth. Gamers stuck in a rut waiting for the next generation machines to hit the market should go out and give this one a spin. You won’t be disappointed.
Difficulty: 7
Control: 9
Audio: 10
Visuals: 9
Replayability: 7
Overall: 8.9
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