System Requirements Windows 98/Me/2000/XP 2GHz CPU 512MB RAM 64MB 3D card 2.4GB HDD Space Axys lives on the beautiful Pacifico Island with his family and friends. All is well until all the flowers disappear and are replaced with weeds. Instead of grabbing a weed whacker like the rest of us, Axys dons his sword and armor given to him by The Creator. His quest begins by finding the root of this evil. (pun intended)

Game Play

There’s a lot more than weed slashing happening in this game. If you like Zelda and Mario Sunshine, this game should have a familiar feel to it. There is a very close resemblance to Ocarina of Time with the heart life bar, chargeable sword and crystal currency. There are many moving platform jumping puzzles, memory games where you have to match character portraits, time attack puzzles where you have push down five randomly located blocks within a limited amount of time. My favorite games were the Bible ones where you have to guess the book the verse clues were from and collect and spell it out with letter blocks. The mini-quests I enjoyed as well, where you interact and help the NPCs. There’s about twenty hours of game play. When you complete the game you can still go back and visit all the towns and islands. There is no multiplayer.

What do I fight?

There are nasty weeds that will hurl things your way, worms that throw rocks at you, fish that spit stuff at you, and some bosses that are challenging. The key to surviving is collecting as many hearts as possible to extend your hit points. You have sword blasts just like Zelda. To replenish your health and sword power whack some bushes with your sword and you will often get heart and sword recharges or coins.

Graphics

Axys Adentures uses the A6 engine, which is a bit dated, but this is the best looking game I’ve seen using it. The graphics are Game Cube caliber. The worlds are very colorful and remind me of Mario Sunshine. Many of the character models are re-used but they have different colors to differentiate them. Some of the levels have some neat effects, there is a maze level where the walls are almost transparent and you can’t tell there is a wall until you get really close. There is also a Gray Plague where the characters affected lose their color. Overall this game was well done in this area.

Sound

The music in this game is excellent, I often had some of the songs stuck in my head. The voice acting is decent I like the voice for Axys and the girls in the game. Some of the male voices were a bit stretched though.

Stability

This is the biggest downfall of the game. It hasn’t been beta tested thoroughly and I felt more like a beta tester than a reviewer when it came down to pointing out many bugs in this game. Fortunately Rebel Planet is very helpful and there is a patch in the works that addresses all the issues. However save games before the patch will NOT be compatible. So if you buy the game patch it first!

Appropriateness

There is not doubt that this is a Christian game. The Bible puzzles are fun and whenever Axys defeats a boss he usually gets them to repent and let God into their heart. The violence is not much different than a Zelda or a Mario game; there is no blood or anything of that sort. There is a good moral lesson to be learned and the consequences of evil are shown.

Final Thoughts

This is a good game with a great message. It does have it flaws so I recommend waiting for the patch to come out before playing it. If you’re like me and dislike jumping puzzles or time attacks, play the game in easy mode. In that mode you don’t have to complete every puzzle. There’s a great fan site where you can get tips and hints. http://www.rebelfans.com

Final Ratings

Game Play 15/20 Graphics 7/10 Sound 8/10 Controls 4/5 Stability 2/5 Appropriateness 54/50 Cartoon Type Silly, Non-Deadly Violence (-2 pts) This game shows the consequences of evil and/or messing with the occult. (+3 pts) The story in this game delivers a good moral lesson. (+3 pts)

Final Rating 90%