Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000 video game)

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy Handheld.jpg
North American cover art
Developer(s) GameBrains
Publisher(s) THQ
Designer(s) Brett Bibby
Programmer(s) Brett Bibby
Platform(s) Game Boy Color
Release
  • NA: September 19, 2000
  • EU: November 10, 2000
Genre(s) Beat 'em up
Mode(s) Single-player

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 2000 beat 'em up game developed by GameBrains and published by THQ. Based on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer , the game features Buffy Summers, who fights vampires, demons, and other supernatural entities as the Slayer. The player controls Buffy through eight side-scrolling levels, and gameplay centers on one-on-one fights with vampires.

Contents

Gameplay

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game divided into eight levels, which include a mansion and the Sunnydale zoo. [1] The player controls Buffy Summers, a Slayer destined to fight vampires, demons, and other supernatural entities. [2] [3] Gameplay is focused on one-on-one fights with vampires. [2] Although vampires are the game's only enemy type, there are six variations: tux, punk, disfigured, tribesman, Euro, and guardian. [3] The player fights two master vampires as bosses: a Viking and a beast vampire. To defeat them, the player must knock them down and stake them through the heart. [2] A game over occurs when Buffy loses all of her health. Along with attacking, the player can block an enemy's attack, throw them, and roll on the ground. [3]

Levels do not include any obstacles or traps, and while they incorporate platforming, none of the falls are lethal. [2] AllGame's Brett Alan Weiss described the jumping mechanic as "super leaps". [3] The game does not have any collectible items or different weapons. [2] The player can pick up small objects, like paint cans, to throw at a vampire, but they can only be used when an enemy is onscreen. [2] [3] Levels also have power-ups, such as soda cans that provide "super punches and kicks". [3] Each level ends with a password which functions as the game's save points that allow players to replay the level. [3] [4] While Buffy is the game's only playable character, other Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters appear in cutscenes between levels. [3]

Plot

The game is set in the show's fourth season of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. [5]

Development and release

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was developed by GameBrains and published by THQ. [2] In March 2000, THQ announced the game as part of a partnership with Fox Interactive. [6] The game discussed in this announcement was set for a 2000 release. [7] Both companies would collaborate for a second Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game in 2003 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul King . [8] A pre-alpha demo was available at E3 in May 2000, [9] before being released on September 19, 2000, as a Game Boy Color exclusive. [10] The game was not backward compatible with the Game Boy. [2]

Critical reception

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References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Harris 2000; Kris; The Pantagraph 2000 , p. B6; Weiss A
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Weiss A.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Weiss B.
  4. 1 2 Kris.
  5. ↑ Vincent 2017.
  6. ↑ IGN 2000a.
  7. ↑ Kennedy 2000.
  8. ↑ Bloomberg News 2002.
  9. ↑ IGN 2000b.
  10. ↑ "PR - 9/19/00 - THQ SHIPS BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER FOR GAME BOY COLOR SYSTEM". 2004-04-16. Archived from the original on 2004-04-16. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  11. 1 2 3 GameRankings.
  12. ↑ Harris 2000.
  13. ↑ Guido 2000, p. 15E.

Citations

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