The Mask (SNES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of THQ's 1995 license-based action platformer for the Super Nintendo, The Mask.

Played through on the normal difficulty level.

The Mask, released about a year after the Jim Carrey movie upon which it is based, was one of the later SNES releases in North America. You play as Stanley Ipkiss, a regular guy who finds a Loki mask that gives him super powers when he puts it on.

Am I the only one that wished that it instead had been based on the Cher movie about the kid with the messed up face? :D

The movie was notable for its special effects that blended live- action video with a lot of comic-styled computer animation to give Stanley's character a super exaggerated look and feel. Though the game's graphics resemble the original comic's art style more than they do the look of the film - there are no specific actors' likenesses used in the game - the animation nails the over-the-top look of the film's special effects nicely. Ipkiss's eyes bulge across the screen when a boss appears, and his special weapon attacks all come with funny, flashy bits of over-exaggerated pizzazz. The level backdrops are all a bit mundane, but the characters all look and feel the part nicely.

The gameplay is solid, but nowhere near as memorable as the presentation. The levels tend to all be huge mazes with some irritatingly convoluted layouts, and though they are fairly easy to get through, they feel like they were designed to prolong the game's short length. The seven stages can all be easily cleared in under an hour once you've run through them a few times. There are tons of hidden items to find, and the enemies all have generally discernable patterns so you dont often take unavoidable hits, though the timing can be annoyingly particular with some of them, especially during the excessively drawn out boss battles.

Overall, The Mask is a pretty decent game, and far better than what you might've expect from THQ, who in 1995 was only just starting to make inroads on improving their reputation after the deluge of garbage they unleashed on consoles in the early 90s. It feels to me a lot like Irem's Rocky Rodent, though lacking a lot of the polish and good level design practices. Still, it sits firmly above mediocre, which isn't a bad place to land as a movie tie-in game from this time period.

Just one question - why would they not secure the rights to Jim Carrey's likeness for a game based on one of his movies? That alone probably would've sold the game!

Oh well. There was an Ace Ventura game from around the same time that features his likeness quite prominently. If you're curious, check it out here:    • Ace Ventura (PC) Playthrough - NintendoCom...  
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

Visit for the latest updates!
  / 540091756006560  
  / nes_complete