BearShark. My god. This is one hell of a funny series. Created by the fantastic Harry Partridge of Starbarians and Saturday Morning Watchman fame, BearShark (available on Collegehumor and the 3DS) has become a very solid series, just simply about a bear and shark teaming up to torment then eat this one guy. Now excluding the gorgeous animation, the comedic timing and the amount of emotion conveyed through movement in BearShark is just a fantastic treat for the eyes. I’m always excited when a new BearShark is released and if future episodes of BearShark are as great as the one’s up-to now then I’ll be excited for those too. But today my mood for the series has been dampened thanks to a game based off the great show, simply titled BearShark: The Game.
Developed by Silverball Studios (who were previously known as Fuse Games), the developers behind mostly pinball games for the Nintendo systems, like Mario Pinball Land (2004), Metroid Prime Pinball (2005), and Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (2009), BearShark is their latest venture into gaming and the first game on the 3DS. Now I wasn’t expecting much for a $5 game from the 3DS online store but I was expecting more then this.
BearShark is your typical impossible runner game. Your character moves non-stop right and you can either click any of your buttons or tap the screen to make him jump (I would suggest using the buttons.) So you jump past all the obstacles to get as far as possible and in turn the highest score. Obstacles include the shark either wheeling towards yah on a bike, flying above you coughing up high bouncing beach balls, low bouncing tires and anchors, or hidden in a milkshake, and the bear either firing at you with a Russian submarine, or briskly paddling on the top of the water. There are two repeating levels in the game, running through the forest being chased by the bear, and swimming through the lake being chased by the shark. The two levels just alternate until you lose.
Pretty simple right? Well that’s exactly why this game is bad. First off, animation wise I’m underwhelmed. One of BearShark’s greatest strengths is Harry’s animation and the backgrounds to this game are so bland and lifeless it’s dulling, and don’t even mention 3D. When I put 3D on everything looked like it was taking place in a puppet show, so for my play through at least I left it off. There’s also a lack of animation. Now that may sound like an odd criticism but hear me out. What is the most memorable part of any BearShark cartoon? The moment where the guy gets eaten, right? Well if I were a game designer I would have added some actual swallowing animations to the game.
If it can’t be done in real time gameplay then in a cut scene, like in Dragon’s lair. Whenever you are caught by the bear or shark you will immediately cut to an animated cut scene, by Harry of course, of the guy being swallowed whole in a variety of ways. That would at least make doing the repetitive task of just jumping more rewarding if when we lose we get a cool animated cut scene. In the game as of this point all that happens is that you and the shark and/or bear get covered in a PG-13 dust cloud, leaving the bear and shark smiling victoriously. The dust cloud just seems like a cop out to avoid doing extra animation and makes the whole experience feel rather cheap to me.
My second biggest complaint is the price point. 5 dollars, really? For this basic jungle run clone? A jungle run clone that I could easily replace with the dozens of other clones which are… FREE. I checked Itunes by just placing in “Jungle Run” into the search bar. The results? If I wanted, I could buy twenty different variations of jungle run, which all have the same mechanics as BearShark: The Game but are all visually more appealing and are for FREE. How is it that my 5 year old Ipod Touch can play a more visually and mechanically appealing game then the 3DS? You get everything you need to know about the game by just starting it up, as it shows our BearShark as a moving jpeg, roaring horribly for our displeasure. You got the right to make the game from Harry why not utilize him and have him create a title screen animation? Or hell just take the animation from the very first episode of BearShark. Well, the only reason anyone in this sort of position would say “no.” Money.
BearShark: The Game is functionable in every meaning of the word but visually it doesn’t have that flare from the original cartoon and the price is OVERPRICED. I say if you want to buy this game, buy any of the other free jungle run games and play it on your iphone/ipad with BearShark in the background. That would be more fun and enjoyable then this game.
SCORE: 4 Out of 10
Taylor Wyatt is a 24-year-old writer and producer. He has gone through the Toronto Film School for TV and Film Writing to develop his production and writing skills, implementing them into several independent film projects, music videos, and short film anthologies. He is also the co-owner of the online production company ToonGrin.com and the host of the animated review show Cartoon Corner.
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