Danny Phantom Urban Jungle

Anyway, Urban Jungle DS is based on the Urban Jungle episode, although I don’t see much similarity according to the new episode’s description.  The game is designed around the newest bad guy, Undergrowth. Undergrowth is attempting to turn Amity Park into a real jungle, replete with out-of-control vegetation. It’s up to Danny to use his fire and ice powers to trim the growth.

Urban Jungle is a standard shooter where Danny blazes his way through scores of enemies as he flies through the air. In many ways, it reminds me of the old Atari arcade games. The way the enemies line up to attack Danny, and the necessity of repeatedly mashing the buttons to madly fire at everything in sight, brings back memories of watching the guys at the local arcade. There were actually many times I had to switch fingers while playing through these levels, as my thumb was getting tired!

Most of the levels are played out as shooters, with Danny flying through the air across the screen in a side-scrolling view. As he flies, there are lines of unfriendly ghosts who come at him in formations that start out as lines, and then break up and move around. Interspersed with these minor ghosts are bigger ghosts who have more damaging powers. Fortunately, Danny has many weapons in his arsenal, as well. He begins with simple firing and ghost trapping weapons, which can be soon upgraded as he wins the level stages. The firing weapons are flame and ice, but can only be powered by Ghost juice. This will run out very quickly, but can be powered up again by absorbing plasma blasts from the enemy ghosts.  To absorb these blasts, Danny simply has to ensure that his aura is the correct color of the plasma blasts, either red or blue. He can switch between colors by using the L button.

At the beginning of each stage, Danny can equip his weapons from the ones he’s earned. To use all of them, however, he has to capture flying powerups that are triggered by shooting the ghosts in each level. Then, players can use the touch screen to choose from these three powers. The touch screen is also used to activate health levels and add the powerup icons to the Ghost powers in his arsenal.

Most of the levels are straight shooting arcades, but a few of the stages are different.  There is a flying ship stage where the player aims Danny’s ship at a flying ship in the distance, which is coming at him from different angles.  This plays out like a carnival arcade game, where the goal is to shoot the moving ship which has highlighted targets on board. However, this ship fires back.  The player will have to shoot and dodge at the same time. Another different level is one that has Danny flying into the screen, instead of the usual side-scrolling view. He’s still shooting, but sometimes has to duck over, around or under barriers that are closing the screen. At the end of each world, there is a boss battle. These bosses are not too difficult to beat, but aren’t too easy, either. For the most part, Danny just has to shoot rapidly in bursts while the boss is maneuvering for the next onslaught, and then get out of the way until the next lull in the boss attack.

While this is a basic shooter with nothing really new, the gameplay is actually decently designed and fun, to boot. It’s better than much of the TV/Movie-based junk currently available. The only drawback is the sameness of the levels, and the shortness of the game. After winning, there’s not much incentive to replay, either. But, the first time around is entertaining. It’s fun to blast away at the incoming ghosts and clear the levels, and with the three difficulty levels, even the young kids can play without getting frustrated. The controls are simple and easy to use, with just the A and B buttons used for the most part, and the aim is solid. At times, it’s a little confusing to figure out just what is required for successful completion, but most of the levels are self-explanatory.

This is a good game to get for the family, but people should be aware that the game is short and there won’t be much replay value.  Therefore, the best value is for families with multiple potential players of all ages.  

Gameplay: 7
The gameplay is well-designed and engaging.  However, the levels are mostly the same and the game is pretty short. It can be beat in a couple of days, and there’s not much reason to come back.

Graphics: 7
The graphics are good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Sound: 7
The sound effects and music are average, but at least not annoying.

Difficulty: Medium
Fairly easy to play.

Concept: 7
The game is similar to many other shooter games, but is presented well.

Multiplayer: 7
There is a multi-player wireless mode available for players, but both will need the game to play.

Overall: 7
Danny Phantom Urban Legend is a light action shooter that offers good, solid gameplay without any surprises. It’s entertaining and not too difficult, but the drawback is the shortness of play and the lack of replay value. It would have been a lot more fun with more variety in the levels, but what is here is well-done for the type of game it is.