Here we go again another platform game aimed at the younger market. You may have crashed the bandicoot? You may have taken Spiro for a spin? Or you might have even done the tiger feet with Ty? Now you have the chance to…er.. scale with Scaler! Ok, so it’s another 3D platformer with a cute and colorful main character who must collect loads of gem-like things just like Sonic and Mario did/do. So does it offer anything new? In a word, no.

| Gameplay:

| Scaler is a boy who has been transformed into a lizard. Yes you have heard it all before, so I won’t waste any more of your time with a sloppy story about lizards and evil world domination plots; so on to the game.There are 15 levels of platform action to get through, which involves the obligatory moving platforms and jumping on baddies. There is a slight variation in that there seems to be two paths a player may take. The main goal is to collect the missing eggs.

| Scaler himself gets about mainly by running and jumping, but there is a good addition to this game that allows you to go sliding up and down rails, which is by far the best part of the game. Being a lizard means you can climb up nearly everything. The lizard has two main attacks which consist of a simple claw attack and a tongue lash, which is far more fun to use from a distance. There is also a special attack, which throws electricity at all the enemies. By progressing through the game and defeating bosses you get to take use of their powers, which is a nice touch. An example of this is where by defeating a gremlin creature, you get to transform into him and use his bomb rolling ability. There are four other forms to become including a spiked bird!! This allows you to roll around in a ball. This would have been much better if it was not for the fact that the puzzles/obstacles are set out so plainly that it is obvious what to do and thus becomes a bit dull.

| The levels are hit and miss affair with some being really easy and some being quite difficult. If this is to be marketed towards younger gamers, then there should have been a less steep learning curve, and not one that goes up and down erratically.

| Graphics:

| The graphics remain very colorful throughout, with the unusual looking world portrayed. The backdrops are pretty and will appeal to younger gamers, but contain not enough variety to keep older players too interested. The movement itself is quite fluid, with some good collision detectors used so as not to make certain sections hair pulling frustrating. The characters are the usual cartoon slapstick that we have come to expect from this kind of game. Rather average really, nothing that you would want to show off to your PS2 owning mates.

| Sound:

| The music running through the game is not bad, and the effects are adequate. However, the atmosphere just is not there. The voice acting is rather serious for this type of game, (there must have been a quiet period in the Theatre calendar at the time this was made, loads of actors working on the cheap).

| Longevity:

| 15 levels, is that enough these days? I don’t think so. I would say there is approximately 10 hours worth here. There are upgrades to be bought, by collecting gems, which enable you to get things like stronger claws, but this does not warrant going back and playing this again. The bottom line is there is little replay value in this title.

| Round up:

| I have read that this game is possibly to be released as a budget title at around £20. If this is in fact the case then it may be worth buying for a younger family member as a gift. They won’t be too disappointed, however if you got it for Christmas you may well be. This is a strictly average game in a market saturated with this kind of fare. I do not recommend this game to anyone other than a child or a platform fanatic. Worth renting for a couple of nights if you are mildly interested in platformers.