| Glover | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Interactive Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Hasbro Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, Windows, PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | Windows[1]
PlayStation[3]
|
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Media/distribution | Cartridge, CD-ROM |
Glover is a video game released for the Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows in 1998, and for the PlayStation in 1999. It features a magical, four-fingered glove named Glover.
Contents |
In a peaceful, idyllic kingdom, a kindly wizard rules over various lands from his large castle. The beauty and harmony of the kingdom are protected by seven magical crystals, which sit on the spires of the castle. The wizard is aided in his magic by a pair of magic gloves, which are sentient. One day, though, the wizard accidentally mixes together a bad batch of potions, which create a massive explosion. The mishap turns the wizard into a statue, and sends his magic gloves in two directions—one flies out the window, while the other lands in a cauldron. The explosion also shakes the crystals from the spires, and they hurtle to the ground. The glove that landed outside—Glover—quickly casts a spell to transform the crystals into rubber balls to prevent them from shattering on the ground. They bounce away, entering the magical realms around the kingdom. Without the crystals, though, the world transforms into a foggy, desolate wasteland. To make matters worse, the other glove is corrupted by the potion in the cauldron and becomes the villain, Cross-Stitch.
Glover realizes that he must find the seven crystals and restore them to the fountain underneath the castle. He traverses from realm to realm, and must protect the rubber balls at all costs. As he does, Cross-Stitch attempts to thwart him by setting traps and creating monsters, but Glover's magical skill defeats the beasts. As the crystals are returned, the world is gradually restored to its former state. In the end, Glover fights Cross-Stitch in an outer space-themed realm, and recovers the last crystal. The wizard is brought back to life, and uses his magic to purify Cross-Stitch. All ends happily, and the world is once again at peace.
Crystals are rescued by guiding Glover and his ball around six worlds, each containing three levels, a boss and bonus stage. The ball can also be transformed into one of four (five with the Power Ball cheat) forms. These are the rubber ball, a metallic marble, bowling ball, the ball's original crystal form and the Power Ball. The crystal form is very fragile, but gives Glover double points for Garibs. This causes Glover to place great value on this form of the crystal. His apocalyptic wail is accompanied by dramatic zoom effect whenever the crystal is shattered by a thoughtless or malicious adversary. There are also plenty of magic potions to help Glover with his quest by giving him power-ups.
Glover's ball can be rolled, bounced, thrown, slapped, or walked on top of. While walking on the ball, the controls are reversed (except on easy difficulty). Walking on the ball is automatic while moving the ball across water. Glover can also collect cards (known as "Garibs") which allow him to access the bonus stages if he collects all of the Garibs in a given world.
Glover travels through each of the seven worlds below. Each has a crystal.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 70.05%[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| GameSpot | 5.1 out of 10[5] |
| IGN | 8.3 out of 10[6] |
Reviews were mixed, mostly pointing out the interesting game mechanics and variety, but also noting the bland storyline and confusing controls.
The N64 version was praised by IGN, specifically on its gameplay and sound. Comically, they wrote "In addition to your standard bouncing balls, Glover -- being a magician of sorts, also possesses the ability to transform his balls!". They praised the sound saying "Cute and cuddly, but it works. Music fits each level perfectly. High-tension, moody tunes fill the "Fear" levels, whereas earlier levels are considerably more cheery and colorful." [7] GameSpot added "If you have a lot of patience and like challenge in your games, you may get a lot of gameplay out of this title."[8]
Despite positive reviews for the N64 version, the PS1 version was heavily panned by critics. IGN, which gave the N64 version an "impressive" 8.3, gave the PS1 version a "Terrible" 2.6. Criticizing the graphics, they said "The game may possibly have survived despite mechanical blemishes, but, unfortunately, the overall sour look of the game drags the experience down even more. Simply put, the game looks bad -- Not just compared to its Nintendo 64 brother, but to other PlayStation games, as well."[9] GameSpot also criticizes this version, stating that "Glover, despite its interesting play mechanics, seems to have lost its soul in the port from the N64."[10]
Hasbro Interactive had planned to release a sequel to "Glover" which had a boxing glove character and was to be released in 2000 named "Glover 2" but the idea was scrapped, though gameplay videos and pictures about the game surfaced on nesworld.com, which discovered a work-in-progress version of the game. [6]