G-pinions

I realize I am treading in shark populated waters by writing about a game bought and cared for by my colleague, but after laying my greedy hands on Graffiti Kingdom last week I simply cannot get the game out of my head. So with apologies to Nick, who I am sure is already seething that I once again stole a column from him, I am proud to talk about a game that introduces a feature so undeniably entertaining I am hereby placing it right behind co-op and ahead of level editors as something that should be included in every, single game from this point forward.

If you're anything like me, you have no idea what Graffiti Kingdom is. In fact, since I never can remember the name, I had to once again visit EB.com just so you guys would know what I am talking about. Basically, this is a generic third person adventure title with RPG elements thrown in for good measure. You run around, battle enemies with a few moves, and generally take part in some of the most bland 3D adventuring you can imagine. Clearly, while the main gameplay mode is far from bad, if that was all there was to the game it would have been forgotten less than 48 hours after release. Instead, this is probably one of the most entertaining and memorable games on the PS2.

What this game does feature is the the most comprehensive character creation mode ever seen in a console title. Basically, if you can imagine it, you can create it. And it isn't even that difficult. You are given a blank screen and draw whatever creature you would like to play as. Start by drawing a body and then decide where you will place the various other appendages. You can fix as many legs, tails and heads on the body as you like, and, because you are drawing these parts free hand, they can take any form you like. Not only that, but you can designate parts to rotate or even hover mere inches from the body. If you decide to dub that squirrelly looking appendage a tail it will move and flex just like you would expect it to.

While simply being able to draw any character you can imagine sounds good enough to warrant a $50 purchase on its own, the player creation even goes farther than that. You can set how your character moves, what sorts of attacks it has, and even what voice it will use to intimidate its foes. Unfortunately, you are forced to actually play the main game in order to unlock all the features this mode offers, but you can just use this as an excuse to try out your character in a real world... er... game... enviroment.

While Nick and I struggled to make a character anywhere near the greatness of Jade or Jigglypuff, some gamers have already assembled characters that look better than anything Square has done in the last five years. Check out these pictures and imagine the possibilities.



Go to this site and check out a whole bunch of other user made characters. For some reason, though this is the first gallery, it's actually listed as 3_1. Just ignore the odd Japanese numbering system and check out the super awesome models. This movie of Samus Aran is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

Just think, this is finally my chance to play a game starring a VelociRex! Now I just have one wish: please, for the love of God, make a DS version of this game.