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People
want a great many different things from videogames. Some insist on a
strong narrative; a great story for them to get lost in. Others want
only to dash around wielding insanely dangerous weapons, laying
waste to their enemies and saving the world, the Princess and
themselves. Then there are Strategy games and the gamers willing to
devote huge parts of their lives to a great war,  Driving games for
the speed freaks, huge sandbox environments for free spirits,
Platformers for the kids and many, many more. There are some people
that require slightly more specialist games, for instance the
crazily original Animal
Crossing: Wild World and WarioWare Touched! for the
NintendoDS. But exactly how many people want to take on the role of
a teenage girl concerned only with clothing, make-up and her social
life? Presumably teenage girls concerned only with clothing, make-up
and their social life. Luckily, here to cater for the obvious demand
and fill this terrible gaping hole in the gaming industry is Bratz:
Rock Angelz. It has like so got to be Game of the Year!
Well,
no. The GameCube version fared less than spectacularly when it
arrived, but it was not awful. Now it is time for the PlayStation2
version to be judged, does the GameCube’s hardware superiority
make the game seem dated on SONY’s machine? Or will the popularity
of the PlayStation2 mean that the game has been enhanced for the
system?
As
is the norm for multi-format games released on the home consoles,
the basis of the game has remained the same as in the GameCube
version. You control one of four girls, Jade, Sasha, Cloe and Yasmin,
as they attempt to write a fashion magazine. This involves roller
skating, photography, posing and co-ordination presented as several
sub-games within the game. The title also features dozen of shops in
which you can buy clothes, make-up, shoes and music as well as a few
optional side quests involving other characters from the Bratz
universe. The game is far too easy for the average gamer, however it
is an ideal  game for children, specifically girls, due to it’s
simple gameplay and colourful graphics, although I doubt every
parent agrees with the morality of Bratz.
In
terms of performance, the games differ very little across the
formats. The slight speed advantage of the GameCube’s data
transfer system and quicker processor are negligible and graphically
the game looks identical. But then, due to the simplistic graphics
present in the GameCube version, this is hardly a shock. The sound
is of the same decent quality as the GameCube version and features
all of the many Bratz songs.
To
be honest, it seems that in the case of this multi-format title, it
does not matter which home console you buy it for. The developers
have obviously not paid the same attention to detail or built the
game specifically for the system like the Xbox version of GTA:
San Andreas or the GameCube incarnation of Soul Calibur II,
and as such, has resulted in a game that fails to tax the hardware
of the GameCube to any extent and may disappoint those expecting a
game with GameCube performance. However, the PlayStation2 version
functions exactly as expected, featuring fairly short Loading times
and reasonable 3D graphics. As much as GameCube and Xbox owners
would like to see their systems produce more from multi-format
games, as long as the PlayStation2 remains king, they will continue
to be playing PlayStation2 games on their consoles. Bratz: Rock
Anglez is certainly not a game to keep the mass market
entertained for any length of time, however those teenage girls just
might find time between SingStar and Eye-Toy: Play 3.
 
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