We are living in an age where our current generation of video game consoles are seeing a great resurgence of classic titles. While some “remastered” versions of games are just PC ports of classic games, Voodoo Vince Remastered is a game whose development team took great care in ensuring that old fans and new players would have the best experience.
Originally, the game was released in 2003 as an original Xbox game from Beep Industries. What is this game about you ask? Voodoo Vince is the tale of Vince, a voodoo doll trying to rescue his owner, Madame Charmaine from the clutches of Koso the Inscrutable. The game revolves around Vince’s ability to use voodoo powers, which the player can get by finding special voodoo icons scattered through the game. Players will jump, spin attack, and use Vince’s voodoo powers to traverse the French Quarter of New Orleans.
The level design has plenty of platforms and puzzles for the player to solve while attempting to ward off enemies. For instance – finding the correct order of shops to visit in order to jam with the sax man. As stated before, you gain more and more voodoo powers as you progress through the levels. As you take out enemies you fill a special meter that fuels your voodoo powers. These voodoo powers are the best part of the game as they involve Vince getting damaged in some crazy manner, then inflicting that damage back onto his enemies. It’s a fun take on Voodoo powers and it’s presented in a comical fashion. They also can help you get out of a situation if you are overwhelmed by enemies.
When it comes to the sound and look of the game. The sound design in Voodoo Vince Remastered isn’t bad. While playing the music has that New Orleans flair and the dialogue is nice and audible. This is one plus for the game, since music can really change the mood of the game itself. Speaking of dialogue, it hasn’t aged well. I’m sorry to say, there are some jokes that fall flat and are starting to show their age. When it comes to the rest, everything else sounds great.
Fast forwarding from the past to, today. The details and care of the levels really shines through. The levels look stunning in HD, as does everything else. Vince and his enemies are nice and polished. As with any platformers of this style, there are camera issues, but most of those can be forgiven. Getting used to camera movement in any platformer will take time. Minor pixelation aside, the game looks fantastic and is a great example of an HD upgrade. It might have been nice to get some new music tracks for the game but we’ll take what we can get.
This overhaul of Voodoo Vince is a great piece for new or returning players. You can easily jump into this classic and feel right at home. With all the HD remakes coming out, this is a “must have”. If you never played the original, I suggest picking this up so you can get an updated look into Xbox’s past.
For more information, check out the official website.
