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by TheDCD on 12.17.10  Playing through Ubisoft's kiddie-oriented Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike, we couldn't help but recall the old Atari fighting game Primal Rage. Like this brawler, Rage had you playing as dinosaur characters as they battled it out in a world teetering on the apocalypse. However, where Rage offered some appeal with its quick (though mildly confusing hold-button) gameplay options, Battle of Giants slips into the mundane. Or, better yet, the Stone Age.
In the game, you'll be able to choose from a few characters, with the option to unlock more as you proceed. These include a T-Rex, a raptor, a triceratops, and a variety of other dino types. You can choose different options and colors, then enter into the fight. There's a story mode in which you try to fight off a raging cataclysm (you can only do so much as a dino, though), a tournament mode in which you can compete against others, and the traditional versus mode. Battle of Giants might've been a good game had it adapted at least some of Primal Rage's fighting tactics. Unfortunately, it fails to capitalize, relying too much on waggle tactics. To charge up special attacks, you'll need to actually shake your remote, rather than striking with skill. This takes a lot of challenge out of the game, making it more boring than it deserves to be. The rest of the gameplay is all right, but the fights themselves lack the kind of complexity you'd expect in a contest. Kids will eat it up, but serious fighting fans will merely scoff and turn to a better fighting game, like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom or the default Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
There's also not much to do outside of the fighting, despite the appeal of the apocalyptic storyline. You pretty much fight, fight, and fight, with little to come back to, aside from a few new dinosaur breeds, which simply aren't worth it. The game looks all right, with decent dino animations and a few settings to fight through, including some impressive landscapes. However, there are fewer backgrounds than we expected, making us think Ubisoft cut corners to ship this in time for the holiday season. Bummer. The audio is OK, with above-average dino effects mixed in with yawn-inducing music. C'mon, guys, THIS IS THE END OF THE DINO WORLD. Let's make it sound mightier!
We can only recommend Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike to kids or those of you who can't live without dino fighting. The simplistic fighting and sporadic options probably won't bother them that much at all. Everyone else, though, should probably track down a Primal Rage machine at their local arcade. You can thank us later.
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