If this was an up and down review, there may have been some question as to whether starting with the good news or bad news made more sense. Thankfully, LotR developer Pocket Studios saved this reviewer from making that heart-wrenching decision.

Perhaps the high point of the game is its graphics. It’s not because they are especially detailed or colorful. It’s simply because they function as intended. It is apparently a lofty goal for this game for any facet to reach completion, so it is compelling to point out that the graphics were indeed done when the game was sent to production.

Unfortunately, unsuspecting buyers will find that the gameplay has no such sense of accomplishment. Character movement is so horribly slow that it is truly painful to attempt to complete the game. Players who tend to skip reading the manual may find themselves scrambling for instructions on which button makes the character run. They will not find one.

If that omission and the overall speed of the game do not deter them from playing on, perhaps an enemy encounter will. These are not your run-of-the-mill role-playing battles. Even a thorough search of the genre would not likely turn up another game where glitches allow the player to walk right through enemies. That’s right. The magic Tolkien obviously omitted from his literary work was that the Fellowship had the power to teleport. Why did they fight when they could slip right through their attackers?

Especially hardy gamers or die-hard fans of the books may lower their heads and press on. They may even reach the biggest travesty of Lord of the Rings, which occurs about three-quarters of the way through the game. Somewhere in the Mines of Moria, the player will lose control of the game. It is both an inexplicable and unavoidable glitch in the game. Apparently a workaround has been released that essentially requires the player to pause and save his game at precisely the right time to avoid the bug. That is not the kind of puzzle that this reviewer enjoys solving.

One could go on to cover the music or story of the game, but at this point, if a single reader would even consider buying the game, this review is simply not qualified to provide the kind of help he needs. Perhaps that unbalanced individual should check himself into the Official TNL Institute of Gaming Psychiatry or simply beat his head against the wall. The enjoyment available from that impact and the gameplay contained in this GBA cart are essentially equal, and one doesn’t cost $30.

· · · Yoshi