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Do you have what it takes to be the ultimate fire fighter?
January 12, 2004 | 10:00 PM PSTby: Nate Gleaves
In Rescue Heroes, you play the role of Billy Blazes-the most super duper of all super hero firemen. The entire city is on fire, and it is up to you to single handedly put out the burning city, and rescue all the frightened citizens that are strewn about every stage.
Billy Blazes is a straightforward 2-D platformer. The stages usually progress from left to right, with a couple that travel upwards that make for a nice change in the routine. Unfortunately routine is the name of this game. There are only seven stages in the game, and none of them take more than 10 minutes or so to complete. The objective, as stated before is to put out fires, and rescue people. There are several ways you accomplish this goal. When you start out the game, your fire hose does not spray very far. As you collect more nozzles that are spread all over the stage, you can increase your range by six times, and by then it practically sprays the entire length of the screen. It only sprays straight out however, and I would have liked to be able to aim it up or down. There are also wooden crates or concrete blocks/walls that block your path at times, and you have to use the right axe to demolish the aforementioned items in your way.
When you start the game, you are armed only with your trusty fire hose. If you run into an obstacle, you have to find another way around it until you acquire the necessary tool to destroy it. Usually the tool you need is somewhere else in the level waiting for you to find it. You actually have a wide range of tools as your disposal once you get a hold of them. There are the wood and concrete axes of course, and the concrete axe also has a hook on it to slide down ziplines. There is also a ladder for reaching high places, and a rope launcher for crossing gaps too wide to jump.
When it comes to jumping, the control department has things wrapped up nicely. It’s easy to manipulate Billy no matter what you are trying to get him to do. The control is nice and tight, and there is no excuse for anything else these days. The only control problems I ran into were during the bonus stages between levels. The helicopter stages were fine, and so were the fire truck ones, but the ones that involved launching the vehicle into the air were really strange. I never did get a good handle on how to properly get my machine high enough to grab the tokens. If you get 5 tokens in the bonus stage, you get to start the next level with an extra nozzle for your fire hose. There are 10 tokens in each bonus stage, so it is nice when you get all 10 tokens, and a little frustrating when you can’t figure out how to get to them.
I really liked the graphics in this game. It is very cartoon-like, and both Billy Blazes and the characters he rescues are detailed enough that they look nice. The animation it’s also pretty good for a kid’s title.
When it comes down to it that is really what this game is. This is a kid’s game. The first couple stages were entertaining. With the searching for tools that you need to advance in the stage, it almost has a really simple Super Metroid feel to it. Okay, a really REALLY simple Super Metroid feel. After the first couple levels, the put-out-the-fire and rescue-the-peeps gameplay became both boring and tedious. However, that is what makes this title a great kid’s game. The stages get a little longer, and a little trickier with each new level. This allows a kid who is interested in the game to work on their gaming skills. It is not very long so there is a good chance they will be able to finish it. And when a youngster finishes a game it gives them a great feeling of accomplishment. This brings me to the next reason why this is a great game for a young gamer. There is a “rookie” difficulty setting. With this setting, Billy Blazes never takes any damage from fires, and you cannot die. This way, no matter how young the player is, if they stick with the game long enough, they will be able to finish it. You also start with all the tools in rookie mode, so you can make it past the obstacles right away.
Obviously if you are above the age of 8 you will not want to play on rookie mode if you want to have any fun with the game at all. I also would not recommend the game for anyone over the age of 10. In the end, this is a rather well put together game. I just don’t think a teenage or older game will enjoy it. However, I don’t see this as a reason to fault the game. I imagine it was designed with the younger gamer in mind, and that is what my final score will reflect.
Billy Blazes is a straightforward 2-D platformer. The stages usually progress from left to right, with a couple that travel upwards that make for a nice change in the routine. Unfortunately routine is the name of this game. There are only seven stages in the game, and none of them take more than 10 minutes or so to complete. The objective, as stated before is to put out fires, and rescue people. There are several ways you accomplish this goal. When you start out the game, your fire hose does not spray very far. As you collect more nozzles that are spread all over the stage, you can increase your range by six times, and by then it practically sprays the entire length of the screen. It only sprays straight out however, and I would have liked to be able to aim it up or down. There are also wooden crates or concrete blocks/walls that block your path at times, and you have to use the right axe to demolish the aforementioned items in your way.
When you start the game, you are armed only with your trusty fire hose. If you run into an obstacle, you have to find another way around it until you acquire the necessary tool to destroy it. Usually the tool you need is somewhere else in the level waiting for you to find it. You actually have a wide range of tools as your disposal once you get a hold of them. There are the wood and concrete axes of course, and the concrete axe also has a hook on it to slide down ziplines. There is also a ladder for reaching high places, and a rope launcher for crossing gaps too wide to jump.
When it comes to jumping, the control department has things wrapped up nicely. It’s easy to manipulate Billy no matter what you are trying to get him to do. The control is nice and tight, and there is no excuse for anything else these days. The only control problems I ran into were during the bonus stages between levels. The helicopter stages were fine, and so were the fire truck ones, but the ones that involved launching the vehicle into the air were really strange. I never did get a good handle on how to properly get my machine high enough to grab the tokens. If you get 5 tokens in the bonus stage, you get to start the next level with an extra nozzle for your fire hose. There are 10 tokens in each bonus stage, so it is nice when you get all 10 tokens, and a little frustrating when you can’t figure out how to get to them.
I really liked the graphics in this game. It is very cartoon-like, and both Billy Blazes and the characters he rescues are detailed enough that they look nice. The animation it’s also pretty good for a kid’s title.
When it comes down to it that is really what this game is. This is a kid’s game. The first couple stages were entertaining. With the searching for tools that you need to advance in the stage, it almost has a really simple Super Metroid feel to it. Okay, a really REALLY simple Super Metroid feel. After the first couple levels, the put-out-the-fire and rescue-the-peeps gameplay became both boring and tedious. However, that is what makes this title a great kid’s game. The stages get a little longer, and a little trickier with each new level. This allows a kid who is interested in the game to work on their gaming skills. It is not very long so there is a good chance they will be able to finish it. And when a youngster finishes a game it gives them a great feeling of accomplishment. This brings me to the next reason why this is a great game for a young gamer. There is a “rookie” difficulty setting. With this setting, Billy Blazes never takes any damage from fires, and you cannot die. This way, no matter how young the player is, if they stick with the game long enough, they will be able to finish it. You also start with all the tools in rookie mode, so you can make it past the obstacles right away.
Obviously if you are above the age of 8 you will not want to play on rookie mode if you want to have any fun with the game at all. I also would not recommend the game for anyone over the age of 10. In the end, this is a rather well put together game. I just don’t think a teenage or older game will enjoy it. However, I don’t see this as a reason to fault the game. I imagine it was designed with the younger gamer in mind, and that is what my final score will reflect.
November 20, 2009
