Glover (video game)

Glover
European Playstation cover art
Developer(s)	Interactive Studios
Publisher(s)	Hasbro Interactive
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, Windows, PlayStation
Release date(s)	Windows[1] NA October 26, 1998 EU 1999 Nintendo 64[2] NA October 31, 1998 EU November 1998 PlayStation[3] NA November 30, 1999 EU 1999
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single player
Distribution	Cartridge, CD-ROM

Glover is a video game released for Microsoft Windows and the Nintendo 64 in 1998, and for the PlayStation in 1999. It features a magical, four-fingered glove named Glover.

Plot

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, four-fingered 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—the right one flies out the window, while the left one 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 in all directions, 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, known as Cross-Stitch, arises from the cauldron, corrupted by its potion.

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 with Glover's aid to purify Cross-Stitch. All ends happily, and the world is once again at peace.

Gameplay

Glover performing the "slap" maneuver on the rubber ball. (N64 version)

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 rubber form gives the greatest amount of abilities for the ball. It can easily be bounced, slapped, and thrown. The bowling ball form allows the ball to not break easily, sink in deep water, and kill enemies by slapping it. The metal form gives precise control over the ball, and can be used to throw and slap the ball more carefully. The crystal form is very fragile, but gives Glover exponentially increasing 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. The Power Ball is a special cheat code that lets you use an indestructible and extremely bouncy ball.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.

Worlds

Glover travels through each of the seven worlds below. Each has a crystal.

• Crystal Kingdom: This is the large area outside of the castle, where all the magical realms are linked. When the game begins, it is a barren desert, populated by bats and creeping things. After completing each realm, Glover returns here to bring that area's crystal to the castle fountain, where the stone wizard rests. There is also a "practice" well for first-time players. As Glover restores the crystals from each realm, the world slowly transforms into a lush landscape, until peace and beauty are restored in the end.

• Atlantis: This is the first realm of the game. Its portal is in a temple-like building. It has ancient flair, with columns and reflecting pools as well as a purple and green hue. The enemies are largely aquatic, including a shark-based mechanism and spiked fish. The boss of the area is a triple threat: a mammoth whale, a snapping crab, and a bubble-blasting flying fish.

• Carnival: This is the second realm of the game. Its doorway is in a circus tent. This land is bright, cheery, and colorful. There are amusement park rides, games of chance, and nasty enemies. The boss is a villainous clown that Cross-Stitch zaps to gigantic proportions.

• Pirates: This is the third realm of the game. Its gateway is in a treasure chest. Sandy shores, pirate ships, and meddlesome monkeys make Glover's trip here far from a day at the beach. The realm's guardian is an orangutan that swings from the trees to attack the hero.

• Prehistoric: This is the fourth realm of the game. Glover accesses it through a volcano. The hero moves from a land where dinosaurs roam to a frigid ice age with the crystal. Cross-Stitch reanimates a fire-breathing beast to fight Glover at the world's end.

• Fortress of Fear: This is the fifth realm of the game. Its passage is housed in a tower-like structure. Glover must face his fears as he moves through this realm of monsters, evil spells, and electric traps. In the boss level, he fights a reanimated Frankenstein-esque creature.

• Out of This World: This is the last realm of the game. It is reached by moving through a meteor. Here, gravity no longer applies as Glover explores an alien planet and flies in a spaceship. He also faces his final battle with Cross-Stitch, and both pilot giant robots in a showdown over the last crystal.

Reception

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]

Cancelled sequel

Online advertisement for the cancelled sequel.

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]

References

External links

• Glover at MobyGames
• WWW.NESWORLD.COM – Glover 2 prototype information