Fur Fighters

Developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Acclaim, Fur Fighters was set loose on the world on September 23rd, 2000. In an effort to step outside your usual 3rd person adventure/shooter, here you took control of a band of 'cutesy' animals packing a LOT of heat who are out to kick General Viggo's furry rump.
It is one of those games which had a 'feel' all of its own and the humour was special too. For example some levels are a comical twist of film titles with places like 'New Quack City' aping the name of the Ice T movie 'New Jack City.' And Viggo's pet Fifi who has a dog's body but the head of a nasty looking bald man. It was touches like these that made it quickly stand out from the usual adventures.
The story is simple; General Viggo has kidnapped the Fur Fighters' babies and hidden them all over the world so the Fighters (there are 6 in all) must search for them, solving puzzles and beating Viggo's henchmen as they go. And to get through this huge game world you will need the different skills that each furry hero posess. For instance reaching those high objects requires Bungalow the kangaroos super jump ability whilst getting to the watery depths, Rico the penguin will step in. (Full character names and abilities below.)
Fur Fighters was made in a time when human voiceovers in games were not widely used (if ever) so instead of hearing the animals speak through an actor, all players hear is a kind of garbled, mumbling voice with subtitles at the bottom in plain english. There are mixed feelings about this but personally I think it gives it much more character and helps extend its unique 'flavour'.
Controls initially take a bit of getting used to because instead of using the Dreamcast controllers left joystick to move, players use the four buttons. (Y to go forward, A to go back, X left and B to move right.) I must admit it took me a while to get the hang of it but once you do it becomes second nature. Indeed I think this was the best control method as the joystick would have made it too fiddly. Too sensitive for accurate movement. And with the shoulder buttons taking care of jumping and shooting it all feels pretty comfortable.
When all is said and done Fur Fighters is a cool title which should appeal to those gamers looking for an adventure of a different style. I picked a copy up for as little as £5 (including postage) and thats a steal for what you get. I'll be honest, I didn't bother with this when it was released because I stupidly took one look at the cover, decided it was a 'kids game' and left it on Electronic Boutique's shelf. Silly boy! A Dreamcast collection is all the more colourful with the Fur Fighters on its side, so grab a copy while they're still selling for the price of a tin of Yum Yums pet food.

List of Fur Fighters:

Roofus - A dog with the speciality of digging holes.
Chang - A firefox who can fit into tiny spaces.
Juliette - A cat, the only female character who can climb walls.
Bungalow - Kangaroo who deals with those high jumps.
Rico - Penguin (sort of) who is able to swim underwater.
Tweek - A little dragon who can glide from great heights.