Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab?

Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab?
Developer(s)	Red Lemon Studios
Publisher(s)	BAM! Entertainment
Distributor(s)	Cartoon Network
Producer(s)	Heidi Behrendt
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date(s)	NA March 2002 EU April 12, 2002
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution	Optical disc

Dexter's Laboratory: Mandark's Lab? is an action video game released in March 2002, for the Sony PlayStation and based on the American animated television series Dexter's Laboratory, which aired on Cartoon Network in the United States. In the game, Mandark gains access to Dexter's secret lab with the intention of destroying it, and Dexter is forced to take down his archenemy in order to reclaim it.^[1] Red Lemon Studios in Scotland developed the game for BAM! Entertainment, and it was first shown to the public at 2002's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).^[2] The game was designed for players 8 through 14 years of age.^[3]

Plot

Dexter's rival, Mandark, has broken into Dexter's laboratory and is attempting to destroy it by reprogramming the lab's Computer to block Dexter from entering.^[1][4] The protagonist, Dexter, must use his inventions and his wits to defeat his archenemy before his laboratory succumbs to Mandark's destruction.^[1]

Gameplay

Based on the television series, the game is set in both Dexter's house and laboratory.^[1] The game's single-player is divided into four levels with each contain puzzling challenges that feature various inventions Dexter has created.^[1] Each level contains two minigames which the player must find and complete to advance to the next level.^[5] The game features a total of eight minigames which can be played alone or in a two-player mode, with one person playing as Dexter and the other as Mandark.^[1] The minigames include Dee Dee's Dance Off, Cootie Call, Up N Atom, and Dexter Dodge Ball.^[1] In each level, players can also unlock a different improved invention by collecting four blueprint pieces hidden in the level.^[1][5] The improved inventions make it easier to complete the minigames in that level.^[5]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score Metacritic 62%[6] Review scores Publication Score Allgame [7] PSIllustrated 70%[5] PSXNation.com 52%[4]

Based on four reviews, the game received a score of 62% on Metacritic, corresponding to a "mixed or average" rating.^[6] Allgame's reviewer Jennifer Beam appreciated the game's animated cutscenes and said they were "like watching the show itself and the characters are depicted relatively well."^[7] Beam also praised the game's voice work for Dexter, performed by Candi Milo who also does the voice for Dexter on the television series.^[7] Troy Oxford of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the mini-games make the title a success.^[8] PSIllustrated's Stephen Triche also praised the game's graphics, but he was dissatisfied with the game on the whole and found the minigames to be dull: "I get the feeling Red-Lemon Studios used a young target audience as an excuse for making a game that I've quite simply found lacking."^[5]

References

v t e Dexter's Laboratory Episodes Ego Trip "Rude Removal" Music albums The Musical Time Machine The Hip-Hop Experiment Video games Chess Challenge Deesaster Strikes! Mandark's Lab? Robot Rampage See also What a Cartoon! Category