Emergency Mayhem to Feature Bad Meat, Rabid Animals
I think the Wii may actually become my system of choice one of these days; even if I still don’t have one. It seems to be the last patch of fertile ground for the little quirky games that have been pushed out of existence by the rising development costs of the last few years. Sure there’s Mario Galaxy and Zelda but there’s also Kororinpa, Forever Blue, Boogie, and now Emergency Mayhem.
Originally in the works for PS2 and Xbox by Acclaim, the property was thought lost when the company went bankrupt last year. Fortunately, Codemasters picked it up and are in the process of retooling it for a Wii release in Europe in June. No word yet on a U.S. date but it was just featured in Nintendo Power so it’s a good bet it’ll have its day stateside.
Emergency Mayhem looks to capitalize on Crazy Taxi’s colorful visuals and frantic city-wide dashes. But instead of picking up passengers you’ll be racing wounded citizens to the hospital in an ambulance, dashing to the scene of a crime in a cop car, or hauling ass to raging infernos in a fire truck. And once you reach your destination you don’t just pause for a second before heading off to the next.
This is where the original game’s 70+ promised minigames and the Wii remote come into play. Put out fires, defuse bombs, even wrangle radioactive beavers (!?) and chase down Mediterranean caterers suspected of hauling tainted kebabs. Performing well nets you more money from the Mayor that you can use to upgrade the various vehicles.
Alright, it sounds pretty tame and doesn’t look all that hot, but radioactive beavers? Bad kebabs? If the full game has enough quirk I’m sold. Of course, I said that about Super Runabout too and I never made it much farther than the “gather hot dog ingredients, then race to the Mayor’s banquet” stage. Here’s hoping a little Wii waggling and some frantic racing keeps me entertained.
Click through for some crummy scans!
