Sega SuperStars

As the second wave of EyeToy games arrive, Sega gets in on the act and brings all our favourite characters along for the party.

	Version PS2 (EyeToy)	Developer Sonic Team	Publisher Sega	Genre EyeToy

By Stephen Rowley

For those of you who don't know what EyeToy is - yes both of you - last year Sony released this webcam like peripheral for PS2. It used motion-tracking software and put the player on-screen to interact with a bunch of party games bundled with it. EyeToy: Play, as the first game was known, was a mixed bag of minigames but was extremely successful due to the sheer novelty of it all, and deservedly so.

We recently took delivery of a second generation EyeToy game from everyone's favourite ex-console manufacturer. It's still pretty much a party game at heart; there still really isn't anything terrifyingly deep to get your teeth into. But since the point is to get some mates in (and ply on the booze for added giggles) it doesn't really matter.

So the best thing to do will be to see how each of the SuperStars minigames plays, and compare them to other EyeToy games. In no particular order (well OK, alphabetical) here they are (for more of an idea, also check the videos below!)

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg - Billy is still rolling his giant eggs about, squishing enemies and picking up fruit. You wave your own hands over 2 icons on-screen work like tank controls (both hand to go forward, your left hand to turn right, your right to turn left). Co-ordination can be tricky and the overall premise is a little too limited to stand up to repeated play.

ChuChu Rocket! - Guide your ChuChus to their rocket ships by raising bridges (and lowering them when the nasty KapuKapus try to eat your charges). This can get very tricky on the harder difficulty levels but it plays great. An EyeToy game that engages the brain more, and shows they don't just have to be simple party games all the time.

Crazy Taxi - This is the first game to implement the EyeToy microphone. You must frantically wave your arms and shout as if you were really hailing a taxi, if that's how you hail them of course. Unfortunately the game proves far too gimmicky and basic to warrant much attention. Crazy Taxi proper was pretty much a one-note affair to begin with.

House of the Dead - It is good to see the continuing trend of the House of the Dead series branching off into the obscure. Both Pinball and Typing have been great little asides to the shooty fun of the arcade original. This EyeToy iteration plays very similar to Kung Foo from EyeToy: Play. Seeing as that was the best game on Play it's no bad thing, with the only minor difference being to avoid hitting the 'damsels' that appear from time to time.

NiGHTS - The much-loved Saturn game showcases an interesting control style with EyeToy. Hold your arms out like plane wings to control pitch and roll of your character and fly through rings. When it works well it does give the feeling you are actually flying, but not for long as with your arms out like that it gets very tiring, very fast.

Puyo Pop Fever - This has to be one of the most ingenious additions to SuperStars. It is very simplified from the Tetris-alike original but still great fun. Coloured beans fall from the top of the screen, which you must guide into matching coloured bowls. Making bridges to them with your head and arms, and keeping bombs out of the bowls too, is great fun.

Samba De Amigo - There will be many who have yet to experience the delights of the monkey filled maraca fun of the original Dreamcast Samba. The maraca peripheral made it an expensive prospect, albeit one essential for party loving gamers. This EyeToy version plays almost exactly the same, and could easily be expanded on to become an entire game in it's own right. It's even worth buying a pair of cheap maracas to add to the authenticity!

Sonic the Hedgehog - Another game featuring a new control method, you control the spiky blue one by moving your arm in the fashion of a clock hand, getting him to run around the inside of a tube. In style it is reminiscent of the bonus stages from Sonic 2, running down a tube collecting rings and chaos emeralds, and avoiding spikes. Very simple, but the control method makes it worthwhile.

Space Channel 5 - I am a huge fan of the Dreamcast original and was happy to see Ulala included in SuperStars. It plays very similarly to the EyeToy: Play game Boogie Down but then, the original Space Channel 5 came first and even Simple Simon before that. Besides, the funky style of Ulala makes it much more enjoyable. [And who can forget the classic music?! - Ad]

Super Monkey Ball - Here is another recent Sega franchise that rightly deserves to be here. Control wise it is the same as the Nights game. Instead of flying through rings, here you control the tilt of the whole course to guide Aiai to the goal. There are lots of stages to play through, but the control method is too tiring for extended play. You would be better off sticking with the analogue stick controlled originals.

Virtua Fighter - Another game that is very similar to an EyeToy: Play game, Boxing Chump. Standing sideways but looking at the screen still feels odd, and aside from being able to kick Akira in the shins (instead of a monkey robot) little is added to the experience, though the combo system works pretty well.

Virtua Striker - This is a very loose interpretation of Virtua Striker - the only real common element being a football. It is pretty good fun though so we'll forgive Sega. Footballs fall in from the top left of the screen which you must head toward balloons on the right. The smaller balloons have higher scores but are harder to hit. Simple, but effective.

Right, that's all the SuperStars games covered, less of a mixed bag than EyeToy: Play, but still predominantly just party based gaming (though the attempts at more sustainable games are welcome).

How does it compare to other EyeToy games though? Well, you will certainly get more enjoyment out of SuperStars if you are a fan of Sega games (in which case add points to the overall score). If you aren't a fan of even just one Sega game (shame on you), then you don't need me to tell you to steer clear of this. Anyone else might want to see how this compares to the recent EyeToy: Play 2 however.