Too busy to devote 12+ hours a day to your gaming habit? Here's a review that's sensitive to your needs: Short and focused on just the things that a busy gamer like you really needs to know.
Busy Gamer Review-
Burger King Games: Sneak King, Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin'
Reviewed On: Xbox 360. Also available for original Xbox.
In a Nutshell: Burger King has put out three adver-games for the Xbox and Xbox 360, and the kicker is that they get you to pay for them TWICE. Depending on who's working the counter when you go in, you must purchase up to three value meals to get the three games plus shell out $4 apiece for the games themselves. (Each disc contains both Xbox and Xbox 360 versions.) So, are they worth it?
Sneak King is a single-player stealth game, though unlike Solid Snake and Sam Fisher you must tiptoe as the creepy plastic-faced King to deliver artery-clogging food instead of instant death. There should probably be a rule against surprising people who subsist on Burger King fare - you might trigger a cardiac arrest (bonus points?!). You'll explore four different environments (logging camp, construction site, suburban neighborhood and downtown block), each packed with hiding places such as trash cans and cabins for the King to pop out of while delivering his heavily branded fare. The challenges are surprisingly fun with difficulty that ramps up as you progress, but the game is hobbled by a hard-to-manage camera that's backwards from the accepted norm and can't be changed. Achievements on the 360 version are pretty free-flowing; you'll get the majority of the 200 available points in an hour or so.
Pocket Bike Racer has you perched on a tiny but fast motorbike as you blast through increasingly treacherous courses. You can play as The King, spokesmodel Brooke Burke, or a BK-branded mascot or employee. Winning a race hinges on how well you corner, collect boost energy and use power-ups to take down your fellow racers. Alas, the play is very uneven and the tournaments long and easy to foul up. Unlocking anything in this game except for a few gimme achievements is difficult. The game's redemption comes from online (2-8) and local (1-4) multiplayer modes, should you have any friends who visit or were similarly suckered into buying these games.
Big Bumpin' will be familiar to fans of Fuzion Frenzy, and for good reason: It was developed by the same studio, Blitz Games. You battle in bumper cars against three other opponents in last man standing, power surge, hockey and keep-away modes. Brooke Burke is back, this time with prerecorded taunts to unleash on your foes. Again, multiplayer is where it's at with support for 2-4 local or online players. Playing against the computer isn't nearly as fun as with real people, probably for the same reason Fuzion Frenzy wasn't much fun alone - the computer knows how to exploit every opportunity and can easily kick your butt.
Learning Curve: All three games are easy to learn. Sneak King is simplest to pick up - just avoid the view cones in front of people and deliver food to those marked as hungry while following any challenge-specific rules. Pocket Bike Racer is your basic racer but with an array of complicated power-ups to master. Big Bumpin' actually has several gameplay modes, which may take awhile to get the hang of, but bashing bumper cars isn't rocket science - just grab some friends and start bumpin'.
The Save Game: All games save any progress after each round, which can take up to a few minutes to complete. Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin' have tournament modes which you'll need to see through, so set aside 10-20 minutes for one of these.
Family Factor: The King is creepy enough to scare very small children, particularly in Sneak King and the opening screens of all three games. Big Bumpin' has firetraps, saw blades, explosions and shocks to avoid, and people get shocked and bombarded by bottle rockets in Pocket Bike Racer. But even the mild cartoon violence, as it's been labeled, is pretty tame. Overall, these are fine for the whole family if you can handle the inevitable requests by young ones for the greasy food they promote.
Buy or Skip? Rental isn't an option and these games are easy to skip unless you really love Burger King and/or collect odd marketing experiments. If you had to pick one, it would depend on your taste in games: Get Sneak King if you love stealth and exploration, Pocket Bike Racer if you're addicted to racing games or Big Bumpin' if you can't pass up a party game. Better yet, find a friend who has them and borrow the games for a weekend.
