It's Mr. Pants
From RWP Wiki
| It's Mr. Pants | |
 |
|
| System | Game Boy Advance |
| Release Date | NA November 15, 2005 EU February 4, 2005 |
| Publisher | THQ |
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Rating | E for Everyone |
| Players | 1 |
| Controller Pak | |
| Rumble | |
| Expansion Pak | |
| Link Cable | Not Supported |
| Xbox Live | |
| Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection | |
It's Mr. Pants is a puzzle game for the Game Boy Advance. It is the first, and thus far only game to star Mr. Pants, Rare's poorly-drawn website mascot. The game was released on February 4, 2005 in Europe and November 15, 2005 in North America. The game uses a graphical style that mimics hand-drawn pictures made with crayons, and features various images of Mr. Pants and his friends in different situations in the background of the puzzles.
Contents |
Gameplay
The gameplay of It's Mr. Pants differs from that of other puzzle games such as Tetris, which tend to use a "falling block" system. Rather, It's Mr. Pants is a puzzle game in a more literal sense: players are given a grid with a large, incomplete, different-colored blocks on it. They are also given a limited amount of block pieces to connect to the blocks in order to complete them as rectangles of at least 2x3 blocks in size or larger and clear the grid. If the player uses up all their pieces without clearing the board, they will lose the puzzle and have to start over again. Blocks of the same color cannot be placed on top of each other, however blocks of different colors can. When blocks of different color are placed on top of another, the lower blocks are removed and replaced by the color of the higher blocks. If players become stumped on a particular puzzle, they can call upon Mr. Pants lightbulb friend, Helpo, who will give the player an idea of what to do by showing them where one of the pieces goes. However, Helpo's AI is very limited and so he may not be as much of a help in later puzzles. It's Mr. Pants also features various different game modes, listed below.
Puzzle
In Puzzle mode, players select a difficulty setting and are then given a series of puzzles to complete. For every five puzzles completed, a piece of artwork is unlocked for the gallery.
Wipeout
In Wipeout mode, players are given a grid with many randomly-placed incomplete blocks and must clear the board within two minutes.
Marathon
In Marathon mode, players are given a blank grid on which to place blocks to make rectangles out of, which will earn the player points. Eventually, the Crayon Snake will appear in the corner of the screen and begin "eating" around the screen. Scoring points will send him back some, but if he manages to eat the entire board, the game is over.
Max the Mystical Mouse's Muddle
This section is marked as incomplete. You can help the RWP Wiki by adding to it.
Characters
Development
The game was originally revealed at E3 2001 as Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers. It featured an isometric gameplay grid and Donkey Kong-themed levels and modes. The isometric view was scrapped because it was thought to be too awkward to see where puzzle pieces near the back of the board were. The game itself received the Mr. Pants theme due to Rare being bought out by Microsoft in 2002, as the rights to Donkey Kong are held by Nintendo. When it was originally presented at E3 2001 by Rare, which at the time was a second-party developer for Nintendo, it was along with other projects for Nintendo platforms that have since been canceled or changed, such as Donkey Kong Racing and Diddy Kong Pilot (which was eventually released as Banjo-Pilot).
The Crayon Snake that circles around the board in Marathon Mode eating the game pieces was originally called the "Pants Snake". THQ thought that this was a bit too risqué and requested the name change.
Music
The music of It's Mr. Pants was composed primarily by Robin Beanland, with some collaboration by David Wise and Eveline Novakovic. The music of the game contributes to the off-beat feel of the game and is unlike anything heard in most Rare games. Some of the songs (such as the menu theme) feature Mr. Pants' voice in the music, sometimes humming to the music or saying things like "All together now!" or "Pants away!".
Reception
Reviews for It's Mr. Pants were mixed, although generally favorable. The game garnered a a 73% review average on Metacritic[1], and a 76% on GameRakings[2]. Reviewers generally agreed that the look and feel of the game were charming, although they were split on the gameplay, some considering it addictive, but others not considering it strong enough to carry the game.
Due to lack of promotion and advertising of any kind by THQ, and the fact that it was released in small numbers in North America, It's Mr. Pants failed to sell well.
