Monster Demo

Simple arcade games do not usually need to do an awful lot to impress the audience, since they are mostly enjoyed by young children and the like. Hence, as long as the gameplay is fun and the colors are bright, not much else can go wrong with the formula. On the other hand, mistakes are much more obvious when the emphasis is put on fewer elements.

Monster is a third-person action-adventure game in which you have to guide a little green creature through a colorful world, in order to find and collect gold coins and diamonds. Obviously, enemies try to make your progress that much more painful, but they can be dealt with using special items, or simply by running away from them as fast as possible.

The main part of the gameplay is to collect the items, because the simple story playing in the backgrounds depends on it. Hence, as an example, you sometimes have to find and pick up a certain number of diamonds in order to free the Master of Time. Various other such simple quests can be tackled along the way, which makes the experience have some sort of meaning, more or less.

On the other hand, given the fact that you mostly have to jump on things and navigate intricate mazes, the controls are way too jumpy and imprecise to help you, so frustration is guaranteed to arise. You can always get stuck in the scenery if you are not paying enough attention, since falling at a funny angle can render you unable to move unless you restart the game.

The children should be able to enjoy the colorful graphics and the somewhat interesting environments, although an adult can easily notice that not a lot of work or detail went into them. The music is also kind of repetitive and it doesn’t really express anything, not even the constant joyful atmosphere you usually get in a title like this one.

All things considered, Monster is too frustrating and broken to be enjoyed by anyone who’s even a little bit familiar with video games. However, small children should be able to appreciate the funky environments and the low difficulty level.