Vimm's Lair: NES Reviews - Great Waldo Search, The

Nintendo
Great Waldo Search, The

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:
4.10
3.90
3.10
3.30
Votes: 10
Reviews: 1


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Reviewer: Nik Date: Mar 25, 2007
It's "Where's Waldo," but from Nintendo. Actually, that's a lie; this is from hell.

Graphics: 4
Fairly pixelated images, one screen high and a few wide. The score it received is so high because the graphics do serve their purpose. I have seen worse.

Sound: 2
Put your TV on mute.

There is one music track for the whole game, excepting the title theme. The title theme is particularly hilarious. Doo, doo, doo doo--a where's waldo. The rest of the music seems to have been accidentally composed by two people wrestling near a synth, and every now and then someone gets shoved onto the keys. The one good thing about the sound in this game is that it's not as high-pitched and deafening as some NES games are famous for.

Gameplay: 1
There are four normal levels and a final level. In each, you have to find two items to win: Waldo and the Wizard's scroll. For bonus points, there are also hidden four clocks (they give you extra time to play...THANKS), blue rectangles, and Waldo's faithful companion, Wiglaf. I can't remember his real name.

The game boasts two difficulties, which present the exact same challenges and levels. The two sole differences are that expert mode's searchables are hidden behind the image (you might only be able to see 1/4 of Waldo or the scroll), and two of its hidden clocks freeze time, letting you search a single screen for a non-standard bonus item.

After conquering the first four levels, you "unlock" the final level, which is naturally full of phony Waldos. Luckily for you, the background is blindingly white--good luck finding the scroll! There are no bonus items to be found in the final level.

Now, if you manage to locate Wiglaf in either mode of the game, you get to play a 10-20 second minigame that involves you, as Wiglaf himself, flying on a magic carpet over some Aladdin-esque village, snatching blue rectangles out of the sky.

Overall: 1
Replay value is afforded by location randomization only. I picked up the game for the first time and had beaten both modes within 20 minutes. Unless you are trying to prevent yourself or your kids from developing normally, do not play, or cause to be played, this game. Ugh.

As bad as the game is, the worst part is that you can't skip past the title screen. Doo, doo, doo doo--a where's waldo.