Rare has set many fine examples in the past of what a great game should be. Games like Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, to name but a few, are considered to be some of the company’s greatest assets. But rather than milk a product and release several further instalments of the same game, Rare have further strengthened their reputation for innovation with the creation of Conker. While the N64 version is still unreleased in Europe, a Game Boy version should whet player’s appetites an ... more >>

Rare has set many fine examples in the past of what a great game should be. Games like Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, to name but a few, are considered to be some of the company’s greatest assets. But rather than milk a product and release several further instalments of the same game, Rare have further strengthened their reputation for innovation with the creation of Conker. While the N64 version is still unreleased in Europe, a Game Boy version should whet player’s appetites and soothe their eagerness for the time being. While its 64-bit counterpart has some extremely adult content, Pocket Tales is quite the opposite, and has in fact been produced to suit all ages.

Before beginning a game the cut scene explains the story with some great attention to detail. The Evil Acorn is up to his old tricks again, and this time he’s stolen all of Conker’s birthday gifts and kidnapped his girlfriend, Berry! The number of references made to nuts and seeds is quite shocking, it has to be said. Taking control of Conker, you will soon begin an adventure of giant proportions that requires you approach the game from a number of directions. Several game genres have been incorporated, including platforming, a little role-playing and puzzle solving. The system of progression is also vast, with many collectibles scattered throughout many vast worlds. All major aspects of the game must be fully completed if you are to achieve your goal; to defeat Evil Acorn once and for all.

Pocket Tales is a great game for the handheld. It’s fun to play and worth every penny. << less