Reviewed by: Belshy
Developer: Global Star Software
Publisher: Sony

My first full review of a kid's platformer! So what better way to play through Scaler than to share the controller with my eldest son? Belshy Jnr is nearly 6, just a year below the recommended playing age of 7+ . Yeah, so I'm an irresponsible parent. Seriously though, despite the occasionally hair-raising fit of pique from a character in a cut scene (the military commander springs to mind), or the usual bloodless cartoon peril (the game's many boss encounters are bordering on intimidating) you'd expect from a game like this, I'd have no hesitation letting Belshy Jnr play through this totally unsupervised.

Quasi cutesy games like this need a mascot, a charismatically likeable and dynamic character that the young 'uns are going to identify with. In fact the best of the genre have characters that appeal to adults as well. That's where games like Spyro fall down, where as titles like Sly Cooper totally excel. Scaler belongs in the latter universally appealing sect of games.

Scaler is a lizard, or more accurately a boy who has been transformed into a lizard by his captors who are hell bent on reptilian domination of the Earth...and other dimensions (don't tell David Icke). On stumbling upon the dastardly plot, our spunky youngster is subjected to a mutating blast of energy, then makes his escape through a cosmic portal; the same portal his captors are using to further their nefarious aims.

On arrival at his other worldly location Scaler is thrown head first into battles with all kinds of alien life forms, from the small ball-of-teeth variety, to muscle bound toxin breathing lizards, through to gargantuan boss Sauruses with truly fearsome powers. Enemy design is as exotic and as varied as the psychedelic landscapes that seem to have been inspired by the likes of artist Roger Dean from his 70's 'Yes' album cover days. The screenies really don't do the vibrancy and organic nature of the locations justice. There's always a cloud of glowing insects buzzing around, swirling mists, giant birds, rippling water and glowing minerals making the levels pulsate with alien life, and as with the Kao 2 demo the result is instantly appealing to kids and adults alike. Many 'woaaah, dad, that's cooooolll's have escaped Belshy Jnr's lips as the camera has pulled back to reveal Scaler whooshing down a slope into the latest vast sun kissed alien vista, positively teeming with life.

Making one's way through these psychedelic lands involves a wide variety of gameplay styles, including fighting the invariably fierce menagerie, platforming across floating crumbling platforms, foot-skating around huge static-charged vines from island to island, and using Scaler's many abilities to solve a whole host of problems. Scaler's abilities increase throughout the game, and in a novel way too. Scaler can use the golden energy orbs he picks up to 'buy' abilities from Leon's (his benign lizard mentor) trusty airborne steed. But these abilities are specific to many different forms available to Scaler. As he progresses through the levels he will vanquish a certain number of a new type of foe, and then suddenly a new lizard form will be made available for Scaler to shape-shift in. The new guise will still have the look of Scaler, though may be squatter, uglier, taller, more heroic, etc...but will also have a new suite of abilities that will open up previous areas of the level. But you'll not be allowed to disregard Scaler's default guise by muscling through with Scaler mk II, because quite often the 'new' Scaler won't be able to carry out the simple platforming skills that the player has honed to that point.

As an example, one level has Scaler trying to collect some of the lizard eggs before his enemies can steal them and genetically transform them for the creation of their evil mutant army. You play through the level once, as default Scaler, where you can climb upside down on certain tacky surfaces, leap across widely spaced floating platforms, and quickly dispatch smaller foes with your tongue and claw attacks. But certain doorways and areas remain blocked off...with mysterious holes designed to receive orbs of a certain size, and glowing energy rods, for the moment indestructible, seemingly powering up force fields which prevent access to new areas. then you kill enough of enemy type X, and suddenly your triangle button triggers a morphing of Scaler into a chubby glowing-eyed version of himself who can conjure rather splendid looking round bombs that he can roll or just leave for delayed remote detonation. Suddenly the level opens up. But try and use Bakudan (the bomber Scaler) to complete the level and your efforts will be thwarted. He can't jump very high, or far, and his bomb dispensing abilities simply aren't fast enough to deal with huge swarms of snapping baddies in melee. But what sweet vengeance when you can stand all the way at the top of a slope and roll bombs down into masses of oblivious alien vermin and napping lizard guards.

Later levels yield flying and swimming (particularly cool if like Belshy Jnr you like hurling Scaler to a watery death, just for the hell of it) versions among others, each with abilities that can be upgraded with golden orbs, and all with weird and wonderful names such as Swoom and Doozum.

Control is intuitive, and the nipper was bounding across platforms and accessing Scaler's alter egos with no problem at all. Particularly liberating for Jnr were the sections in each level where Scaler collected more orbs by 'surfing' down long twisting vines with the odd spiky bit requiring a deft jump to avoid it. The sense of speed conveyed by this had him chuckling and often repeating the experience even after all orbs were collected. And if certain sections proved too tricky, like some of the boss battles, or the sections of the maps that seal off until each successive wave of nasties has been defeated, Jnr would gladly hand the controller over to his Pop, and it was my turn to discover the joys of this game. Some of the boss battles had me utterly gripped in a non-sweary version of the OMFG mode that some of the more overtly adult games can inspire, with their ball-busting difficulty levels. Scaler can be tricky, which is good because it never feels patronising, but it is always fair.

If I was to make one complaint about Scaler it would be that its story is pretty disposable. It's not a huge flaw, but what it does mean is that the endearing persona of Scaler doesn't really attain legendary status of some of the other gaming mascots. While a lot more charismatic than Spyro, when I asked Jnr what his favourite game was, in readiness for this review, and gave him a choice of two, he instantly replied 'Sly Racoon'. Bearing in mind he was 5 when he played that, the fact that he can still vividly remember the names and weaknesses of all major bosses, and that he can recall salient events, is testament to the importance of a well told story. Scaler has a great idea, it's just that the story comes and goes with almost token pacing. But still, it gets by on its extremely polished action platforming, Scaler's charming personality, and often stunning graphics and sound.

A worthy addition to your library, and one that you or your kids (or both) will enjoy equally.

Presentation	8
Very colourful, very pretty, with some excellent level design concepts, extremely appealing characterisation, nifty cut scenes and good sound.
Gameplay	8
You've seen most of it before, but not with a character with so much diversity in his abilities and appearance.
Value	8
Each level lasts a fair old time, and has both primary and sub quests. Old levels can be revisited for ultimate completion of sub quests at a later date. And it's a budget game as well.
Benchmark	8
I'm not a great expert on youngsters' platformers, but out of the few I've played this is one of the best.
Score	8
The first appearance of this new gaming mascot is a doozy, and has resulted in a very pleasing family game. Highly recommended.

Buy 'Scaler' from GAME!

Minimum Spec	Reviewed on
n/a	n/a