South Park (video game)

South Park
North American PlayStation cover art for South Park
Developer(s)	Iguana Entertainment (Nintendo 64/Windows), Appaloosa Interactive (PlayStation)
Publisher(s)	Acclaim Entertainment, Gradiente
Designer(s)	Jeff Everett Neill Glancy
Composer(s)	Darren Mitchell
Engine	Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PC
Release date(s)	Nintendo 64 NA December 12, 1998 AUS 1999 EU March 5, 1999 PlayStation NA September 30, 1999 EU 1999 AUS 1999 PC NA March 9, 1999
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: M ESRB: M PEGI: 16+

South Park is a first-person shooter video game based on the first two seasons of the popular TV series of the same name. The game is powered by the Turok 2 game engine and was released in 1998 by Acclaim for the PC, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. A Brazilian version was published by Gradiente for the Nintendo 64. Acclaim had announced a sequel to be released sometime in 2000, however this project never surfaced.

Introduction

A comet is heading towards South Park, causing mutant turkeys, killer cows, "Visitors", giant clones, living toys, and robots to flock to the small Colorado town. With an arsenal of unusual weapons, and guided by Chef, 3rd graders Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny must defeat these evil forces and stop the comet from landing before it is too late.

Gameplay

South Park is a first person shooter. The game's single player mode places the player in control of one of the four main characters of South Park: (Cartman, Kyle, Stan or Kenny). The player must defeat a variety of enemies using the various weapons found throughout each stage.

Multiplayer

In Head-to-Head mode, the players select a level, characters, and game style (time limited, damage limited, or unending). The PC version allows for online head-to-head play.

In the PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 versions, upon reaching select stages in single player mode, codes are revealed. These can then be input into the "Cheesy Poofs Decoder" to unlock additional characters for Head-to-Head play. All characters are unlocked in the PC version.

Version differences

The PlayStation version suffered from numerous bugs and poor draw-distance. The PC and Nintendo 64 versions featured many improvements, including sharper graphics and high resolution on the N64 version, and multiple enemy types per level on the PC version.

Cancelled Game Boy Color version

A Game Boy Color version was in development, but it was eventually canceled by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators, because they felt the game was not for kids. However, they did keep a few copies of the Game Boy Color version to commemorate what was originally started as the first South Park game.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Upon release, South Park was mostly poorly received by critics. GameRankings has only 41.22% as the average score for the PlayStation version. The PC version was only given the average score 51.72%. GameSpot gave the PlayStation version a 1.4, stating that "South Park is definitely one of those games that is bound to come up when you start thinking about the worst game you've ever played." IGN called the PlayStation version "frustrating" due to poor graphics, repetition of the voice acting, and lack of play value for the head-to-head mode. GameSpot stated in the PC version that "A good license and good graphics aren't enough". The voice acting, done by the original voice actors, was criticized for being repetitive, isolated, and old. The weapons of the game were also criticized for being unprofessional.

Despite the negative reception from both versions, the Nintendo 64 version was praised for its 3D graphics and nice storyline, with IGN calling the game "just as funny as the Comedy Central series". GameSpot stated in the Nintendo 64 version that the level design "it's really not very good on its own, but given the license, it at least makes sense".