The Fancy Pants Adventure
Firstly, type Fancy Pants in to Google and play the flash games that this masterpiece is based on. Secondly, come back here and read this hands-on.
So the Xbox live downloadable title is a vast improvement on the original concept. For those that didn’t follow my instructions, it is a side scrolling game with 2d stick figures; drawn in a cartoony style. The Xbox live and PSN version will have four player multiplayer both online and offline, and I can assure you it will also have a whole lot of fun.
Competing against your team mates to score points, at the same time helping each other to reach the end of the level is a tried and tested concept, one that works perfectly in the Fancy Pants world
Sitting with the designer behind the game, Brad Borne, he talked me through how to play, and some of the unique features that the game has to offer. Fancy Pants is a stick character with some pretty fancy pants, though he is completely customisable, with a ridiculous amount of unlockable weapons (all of which are melee style swords, but take the form of pencils and pitchforks etc...) and clothing items. The action is thick and fast, especially in the multiplayer elements; it seems as if it’s all been designed to give the player a fun time, there are no serious political agendas hidden behind Fancy Pants.
The good old fashioned side scrolling action sees a refreshing return to the concept. The slight twists put on the mini-game sections, add an extra level of detail to the surprisingly intricate level design. Double jumping, sliding, clinging to walls and frantically clambering about the landscape is a satisfying experience; especially when there are four of you on screen at once, battling to reach the finishing point first.
There are no rules in Fancy Pants; at one point I accidently hit one of my team mates players with my weapon, I was told not to apologise, because ‘everything goes’. Competing against your team mates to score points, at the same time helping each other to reach the end of the level is a tried and tested concept, one that works perfectly in the Fancy Pants world.
There is an added verses mode as well, that looks just as fun as any Smash Brothers game, though the novelty stick man fun may wear off quickly. For 800 Microsoft points it seems hardly worth waiting around to see if this scores highly in the ratings; we will keep you updated on our thoughts behind this exciting looking game.
Female First Edward Lewis