Nickelodeon certainly has quite an impressive list of characters that have jumped out of their animated show and into consoles like the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Whether you love a talking sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea or a rambunctious young science genius, there’s everything for everyone. Tak fans aren’t left out either seeing as the young shaman starred in a number of decent adventure/platform games. Tak and the Guardians of Gross for the PS2 is the latest entry in the series and, sadly, not the best one.

That Juju that you do

Placed in charge of cleaning up an important and sacred shrine in the Pupununu Village, Tak accidentally breaks a magical crystal that unleashes a number of giant and super gross giant monsters that have been placed in captivity for befouling the entire area. Now it is up to Tak to defeat each giant and put them back in crystal form to once again bring peace to Pupununu and the surrounding villages. He even gets a helping hand from his good friend Jeera as well as guardians that grant him new juju powers to combat the monsters.

Like past games in the series, Tak and the Guardians of Gross contains platform action and Tak’s shaman magic. As Tak heads out to defeat each giant, he must go through the jungle and its diverse terrain and survive attacks from unfriendly warriors as well as monsters that protect each giant. Armed with his staff, Tak is able to dish out spells as well as solve puzzles that occasionally pop up throughout the adventure. As I mentioned above, Tak even encounters four guardians that offer new juju if Tak completes a series of four short mini-games (which you can also share with a friend via the game’s multiplayer mode).

Aside from jumping from platform to platform, the game takes some familiar gameplay elements and adds them to Tak’s ability to double jump and flip over enemies. Like the Prince of Persia, Tak can now wall run across chasms or run up a wall to cling to ledges that are normally hard to reach even with a double jump. Tak gains a new juju spell that surrounds him in a ball made of goo to roll through the environment much like in the Super Monkey Ball series. Even battling the giants, like the walking trash pile that is Trashthulu, will remind older gamers a little of Shadow of the Colossus. The game even adds a driving level and a chase level where you can shoot fire out of your staff in first-person view. 

Shaman blues

With all these new gameplay features and elements, you would think that this makes for an interesting and fun Tak adventure. Sadly, this is not the case and a big reason is the fact that gamers have no control over the camera whatsoever. This will often lead to platform jumping into an abyss or miscalculating a jump from one platform to the next. This is not only frustrating but it also give the game a very dated feel that will surely aggravate even the most youngest of gamers. Luckily, you instantly respawn and start again from the point where you died.

Then there are the enemies that often stand around waiting for you to attack them. The ones that are able to fight back do not require much skill to defeat. This might be a good thing if you have a very young gamer but it becomes quite tedious and boring for the older set. There are some puzzles in the game that require use of your staff or a new juju magic called Lumpy Magic but thanks to the constant hand-holding in the game you’ll know exactly what to do. The constant reminders and hints are bearable but the puzzles can be a bit more inventive than this? 

Speaking of uninventive, the boss battles aren’t much fun either. Each of the four giants has their own grossness and it would have been fun to defeat them in a more challenging manner. Still, the battles aren’t completely dull. Battling Trashthulu has its fun moments where you attempt to climb the behemoth and the Stinkolossus boss fight gets more intense in the end.

Not the prettiest face in the village

Visually, Tak and the Guardians of Gross isn’t anything spectacular to look at despite some decent animation clips and cut scenes that reveal just how big the giants are compared to the diminutive Tak. The character models up close look straight out of the show and they’re not bad at all but it’s unfortunate that the flat backgrounds aren’t very pretty at all. At least the visual effects work nicely.

The game’s sound fares a lot better than the visuals and if you’re a fan of the show you will know why. The voice actors are all present and much of the show’s humor is also intact so you can expect loads of funny dialogue fans will enjoy. Even the music feels like it comes straight from the show with its tribal beats.

Tak and the Guardians of Gross for the PlayStation 2 just doesn’t have the right juju to be much fun like past games in the Tak lineup of titles. This is most unfortunate seeing as the game does try to branch out in certain places but with a lack of innovation and a few flaws here and there and we have a game that platform gamers young and old won’t find too compelling or fun. Sorry but this isn’t a Tak game I would recommend to fans of the show or character. You’re better off looking for the first and second game instead. 

Gameplay: 5.5
As far as platform games are concerned, this one attempts to mix things up with mini-games and other familiar elements (play as Jeera) but it just doesn’t come together as smoothly as is should have seeing as Tak’s other offerings weren’t bad at all. Some of the Juju powers are cool but cannot hide a dated game with a few flaws.

Graphics: 5.5
This is not the most visually stunning PS2 game and some of the backgrounds can get repetitive and rather dull. The character models aren’t bad at all and there are some occasions when the graphics really do stand out.

Sound: 7.5
The game’s music sounds like it comes directly from the show and that should satisfy fans of the program. Even the voice acting feels like you’re watching an episode. The sound effects are simply Ok, though.

Difficulty: Medium
You will die a lot in this game but not because the bosses or enemies are smart or challenging but because you have no direct control over the camera. Some glitches in the game will also cause Tak to drop to his death.

Concept: 5.5
Tak takes on some mighty giants in this one and gains a few powers worthy of the young shaman. The level design isn’t bad and there are is some variety to the platform fun but it just feels too dated to be fun for very long. You can share Story Mode’s mini-games with a friend and the game even comes with an episode from the Nickelodeon show.

Multiplayer: 5.0
Grab a friend and play any of the four mini-games from the single-player portion of the game. The mini-games are actually fun for a limited time so don’t expect young gamers to playing the multiplayer game for very long.

Overall: 5.5
As far as Tak games are concerned, Tak and the Guardians of Gross for the PS2 is the weakest entry in the series and a flawed platform game even younger gamers will find disappointing. This is really too bad seeing that the game does try to mix up the platform action. It just goes about it in a dated fashion that just doesn’t work for the character.