VeggieTales: LarryBoy and the Bad Apple (PS2)

LarryBoy and the Bad Apple
"Whenever there's trouble , I'll be there! Whenever a helpless vegetable calls out, I will answer! This bad game beware!" - LarryBoy
Protagonist(s): Larry the Cucumber/LarryBoy Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): PlayStation 2 Release: August 8, 2006 Developer(s): Papaya Studio Publisher(s): Crave Entertainment Series: VeggieTales

LarryBoy and the Bad Apple is a video game released for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. It is a platform game based on the VeggieTales episode of the same name. This page only talks about the PlayStation 2 version which was developed by Papaya Studio.

Plot

The plot is essentially the same as the original episode, but with added characters, plot points, and a different time line.

Bad Qualities

1. It is a simple collect-a-thon game akin to Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, but without the charm they usually have.
2. The physics in the game are pretty sluggish. LarryBoy moves in a slow pace as if he was tired, and his jumping physics makes him look floaty for some reason. This makes the gameplay look off.
3. Some of the cutscenes in the game are just copied off from the episode, which is just lazy.
4. The bosses are way too slow and boring. It's actually pretty easy to beat them, meaning there's no challenge in these fights.
5. The soundtrack in this game only features instrumental versions of already existing VeggieTales songs from both the VeggieTales episodes and the VeggieTales CDs. This makes the levels look unfitting due to some of the songs.
6. Larry's animation in the game looks laughably bad. Larry moves like he was sick after getting off an insane roller coaster. While VeggieTales franchise does indeed have some cartoon physics like the squash and stretch animation, this game makes the movements look unnatural.
7. After watching the opening cutscene for this game, there is a good chance that it will delete your save file.
8. Speaking of cutscenes, you can't even skip them. If you don't like to watch the cutscenes in a video game you play, that is going to be a big problem.
9. Regardless of being based on the episode of the same name, it does not really follow up the episode well as it contains material that is not seen in the episode like Pa Grape's and Mr. Lunt's temptation scenes which are exclusive from the game in comparison to the episode where only LarryBoy, Madame Blueberry, Archibald Asparagus, and Petunia Rhubarb getting tempted by the Bad Apple (especially Larry, Madame Blueberry, and Petunia being the biggest offenders of the temptation).
   • Another thing is that the game portrays LarryBoy as the first to get tempted by the Bad Apple when Madame Blueberry was the first to get tempted.
   • However, Mr. Lunt does make an appearance in the episode when he wheels out the huge chocolate cake. Pa Grape? He does not appear in the actual episode at all.
10. Some strange glitches that occur like the TV format that features Archibald Asparagus being positioned wrongly or LarryBoy getting stuck. Sometimes you might not see the game alone as you only see a black screen (this is notable when using an emulator which does this).
11. The game also suffers from a poor camera, similar to Super Mario 64.
12. Madame Blueberry's in-game model looks off and inaccurate. Blueberry is portrayed as a somewhat large blueberry that is smaller than Bob and Mr. Lunt and shorter than the Peas while also sporting a purple shade. The in-game model makes her a little smaller and have a light blue skin.
    • Madame Blueberry isn't the only off-model character, Pa Grape suffers from this too, as he does not have a mouth unlike in the show.
13. Sometimes, the sound effects can be too loud like when LarryBoy starts the Larrymobile which makes it hard to hear what Archibald is saying. Thankfully, subtitles do exist.
14. Everytime you use the weight ability, LarryBoy would say a corny pun like "heavy duty".
15. It takes pretty long to defeat a turret enemy. You have to let LarryBoy spin in order to reflect the projectiles back to the turret until it's destroyed.
16. Lack of enemy variety as all you get are guards and floaty purple smoke spheres called Temptation Seekers.
17. This game holds your hand too much. Even though you know how to play the game, Archibald won't shut up and will keep pointing out obvious things. It's like if Archibald thinks that the player is dumb or something.
18. The colors in the game look pretty dull for a PlayStation 2 game. Especially Bumblyburg being the biggest offender.
19. When LarryBoy uses the Umph! energy drink as a squirting weapon, it looks more like steam than liquid. And at one point, the drink is somehow referred to as water.

Good Qualities

1. The voice acting is good, as it features the voice actors from the franchise involved in the voice acting.
2. Though lazy, the songs are nice, as they're copied from VeggieTales after all.
   • Some are which are unlockable via bonus content. However, the music used for the hub worlds and stages are instrumental versions of songs either from the show or an album. Some of which include "Good Morning, George" from Rack, Shack, and Benny and "Erie Canal" (featured in The Wonderful World of Autotainment).
3. At least you're still able to get some original cutscenes that are not just copied off from the episode.
4. It was pretty interesting to see LarryBoy do powers that he never really did in the episodes like turning into metal for instance.
5. Most of the character models do stay true to the VeggieTales animated series.
6. Petunia Rhubarb's level is pretty cool looking. Same can be said about Mr. Lunt's level is solid. Even the boss fight in Mr. Lunt's level is decent.
7. LarryBoy can move faster just by gliding.
8. The graphics are still really good, despite the dull colors, since the characters models are decently detailled and the backgrounds look great too.
9. The Game Boy Advance version is actually good, although it is mostly a clone of Mario vs. Donkey Kong.
10. The game can be enjoyable to some people, especially children, despite being slow paced.

Reception

Unlike the GBA version which received mixed to positive reviews, the PS2 port received mixed reviews, with a score of 61/100 on Metacritic, most critics praised the graphics and soundtrack but criticized the slow paced gameplay.

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