Glover

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a game by Hasbro Interactive, and Interactive Studios Ltd.
Genre: Action
Platforms: PC, Nintendo 64Nintendo 64
Editor Rating: 7/10, based on 7 reviews, 13 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.5/10 - 13 votes
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See also: 3D Platformer Games
Glover
Glover
Glover
Glover

Along, long time ago, many years before the birth of that miraculous creation we have all come to know as the N64, there was a game called Marble Madness. The object of the game was to guide a small round ball-the marble - through numerous levels filled with cunning obstacles and marble-mangling hazards. Gamers loved it, and nothing since has come close to matching it... until now.

Glover takes the best bit about Marble Madness - the marble - and adds something... a glove. But this is no ordinary glove, oh no. You see (warning, Jackanory moment approaching) once upon a time there was a peaceful land known as the Crystal Kingdom. The kingdom was made up of six unique worlds ruled over by a good wizard from his castle situated in the hub of the worlds. Upon this castle were mounted the seven crystals which gave the kingdom its name. Then one day one of the wizard's spells went wrong, and in the subsequent explosion the wizard was turned to stone and the seven crystals were scattered into the surrounding lands, turning them dark and evil.

To cut a long story short, one of the wizard's magic gloves finds himself outside the castle and must track down the missing crystals and return them home in order to save the Crystal Kingdom.

All's Fair

Which is where the game starts. Your task is to help Glover find all the crystals and bring them back to the cave on the hub world. Fortunately, the crystals are no longer crystalline, having been transformed into small bouncy rubber balls by Glover when the castle exploded to prevent them from shattering. This means that the balls can be bounced, thrown, whacked, and pushed around by said little white glove in order to get them through the six different worlds and back safely to the hub.

Basically, Glover is a 3-D puzzle game. As you progress through the six different worlds, you will encounter all manner of different obstacles which must be dealt with in different ways. Some will require you to activate switches, either with the ball or with Glover himself. Other obstacles might require you to use the ball as a missile, or to transform it into something else.

For the ball doesn't stay in just the one shape, oh no. With Glover's magic you can turn it from the standard rubber ball into a huge bowling ball which can smash through walls, into a magnetic ball which will stick to certain surfaces or back to the original crystal.

The different states of the ball, combined with the number of things that Glover can do with the ball (throwing, bouncing, and so on) mean that there are a massive number of different factors that the game designers have been able to use to create the puzzles.

One of the results of this is that Glover is definitely not an easy game. The ball itself moves incredibly realistically, bouncing, rolling and flying just like a real ball would - it even picks up snow if you roll it through a snowdrift. The simple fact that it has inertia makes the game a joy to play, but a 3-D puzzle game. As you progress through the six different worlds, you will encounter all manner of different obstacles which must be dealt with in different ways. Some will require you to activate switches, either with the ball or with Glover himself. Other obstacles might require you to use the ball as a missile, or to transform it into something else.

For the ball doesn't stay in just the one shape, oh no. With Glover's magic you can turn it from the standard rubber ball into a huge bowling ball which can smash through walls, into a magnetic ball which will stick to certain surfaces or back to the original crystal.

The different states of the ball, combined with the number of things that Glover can do with the ball (throwing, bouncing, and so on) mean that there are a massive number of different factors that the game designers have been able to use to create the puzzles.

One of the results of this is that Glover is definitely not an easy game. The ball itself moves incredibly realistically, bouncing, rolling and flying just like a real ball would - it even picks up snow if you roll it through a snowdrift. The simple fact that it has inertia makes the game a joy to play, but also means that, for example, when you're negotiating your way along narrow platforms it is all too easy to underestimate the ball's movement and plunge to your doom.

...In Glove And War?

Fortunately this sort of thing has been anticipated and strategically stationed throughout the levels are checkpoints. After you've just completed a particularly tricky puzzle or negotiated some hazardous platforms for instance you'll usually find the welcoming glow of one of these, which stops you from going mad when five seconds later you destroy the ball, Glover or both in a foolishly rushed manoeuvre.

The six worlds in the game are all beautifully designed and cunningly thought out. The levels all adhere stridently to the theme of the world they are set in as do the enemies that you encounter on your travels. Emphasis seems to have been placed on both humour and gameplay equally, which is a pleasant surprise as it was beginning to seem that with the N64, a game that was funny couldn't be fun, and vice versa.

You'll Glove It!

Each of the worlds in the game has three normal levels, plus a boss level and a bonus level. The bonus levels can only be accessed by collecting all the small yellow and red tokens that proliferate on every level of the game. It's worth making the effort to go back and find them all though, because each of these bonus levels is effectively a game in itself and should provide endless hours of fun.

On the whole, Glover is an extremely playable and very challenging puzzle adventure, which should take even the seasoned gamers out there some time to finish completely. That said, some people might be turned off by the difficulty level, which is a lot more like what you would have expected to find in computer games some years ago than the 'finished-by-lunchtime' level of play the majority of games seem to have now. Fortunately for anyone who might be put off by this there is an easier level of difficulty for the gaming wimps amongst you, the only restriction being that you can't access the bonus levels from it.

No matter what kind of games you're into, give Glover a try and experience what a real video game is like!

Download Glover

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Nintendo 64

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Overview

A powerful wizard makes a mistake while mixing up a potion and the result is a huge explosion that turns him into a fountain, blows one of his gloves into a vat of evil, and throws the other glove outside his castle. The explosion also blows the wizard's Magic Crystals off the castle. To keep them from shattering, Glover (the good glove) transforms them into rubber balls, but they end up bouncing all over the place. Now Glover is on a mission to recover the Magic Crystals, restore the wizard and bring peace back to the kingdom.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Controlling Glover on his mission to restore the Magic Crystals will require solving some ingenious puzzles in over thirty levels of play. You'll need to walk, jump, climb, push, crawl and smash enemies to make it through. Once Glover finds the transformed crystals, he'll need to dribble, throw, and push them around objects and enemies. He can even walk on top of balls to get over deep water or other obstacles.

Glover also still has the ability to transform the crystals; he is a magic glove, after all. In addition to the rubber ball, each crystal can be transformed into a bowling ball, a small iron ball, or its original crystal form. Each form has different advantages: the bowling ball does more damage to enemies when you throw it, but it's heavy and hard to move. The crystal ball doubles the points you receive as you pick up flags, but is prone to shattering. The iron ball fits through smaller spaces and is magnetic, but doesn't bounce well. In addition to these four standard forms, there is a wide assortment of hidden transformations with special powers.

The levels range from a circus carnival where you have to win the sideshow games to prehistoric and space-age worlds. There's even a winter landscape where you have to be careful not to get too much snow stuck to the ball as you roll it along. The puzzles in each level require thought and planning to solve, and take full advantage of all Glover's abilities and each form the balls can have.

Controlling Glover can be confusing at first, especially since the game was initially designed for the Nintendo 64 platform and was designed to take advantage of the N64 controller. I found the keyboard controls very difficult to get used to, but I was able to find a setup using my SideWinder Gamepad that worked well. There were still problems, though -- the game controls are often jerky and unresponsive, which can be fatal in some of the touchier puzzles, and when the ball is on the water the controls all reverse direction. This make some sense as Glover is walking backwards on top of the ball, but combined with the shifting camera angles it makes it very difficult to move where you want to go at times.

Graphics

Compared to other 3D games on the market, Glover's look is not as polished. The animations for Glover's movements are smooth and the magic effects in the game look great, but the lower-detail 3D models and simple textures definitely put it lower on the eye-candy scale. That's not to say that Glover looks bad -- it doesn't. It's just a step down from the cutting edge.

Audio

The effects in Glover are done with a cartoonish flair, giving the game a 'cutesy'? feel which works well. The rubber ball?s bounce is a very satisfying thump and the tinkling of the crystal balls conveys how fragile they are. Each level's musical score fits the atmosphere perfectly -- high-tension, moody tunes are used in the later levels where Glover is approaching his evil twin, while earlier levels are considerably more cheery and colorful.

System Requirements

Windows 95/98, Pentium 133 or higher, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX5 compatible sound and video cards. 3Dfx card recommended

Bottom Line

While Glover won't blow you away, it is a very enjoyable puzzle game that combines solid gameplay mechanics and off-the-wall character design. It will take most players a while to get used to the controls, but once you finally learn how to move around, the game becomes a lot of fun.

A game based on the actor Danny Glover? Amazing. Jokes aside, Hasbro Interactive recently unveiled their first N64 title, a single-player, 3D action game called Glover, which has nothing to do with the actor with the same last name. The game is a Mario-esque romp through seven themed worlds with bright, colorful graphics. Instead of a plumber or any human or animal character though, you control a white glove with a cartoon face. It sounds strange but the character actually works quite well. Your objective is to find a number of mystical crystals which have been turned into bouncing balls so they won't break. What you need to do is maneuver each of these balls through their respective levels so they can be turned back into crystals and put in their rightful place.

And that's where the trickiness comes into play. Levels have narrow walkways, steps, hilts and other obstacles that don't sit all that well with most balls. You'll also have to chuck the ball over pits and at enemies in order to survive. Certain levels have environments that affect how the ball moves. For example, in the snow level snow builds up on your ball as you roll it around (like a snowball being rolled in the snow). The bigger it gets, the slower it moves, so every now and again you need to give it a good stomp to knock the snow off of it. Each of the worlds contains three levels, complete with enemies, puzzles and a Boss character.

  • MANUFACTURER - Interactive Studios
  • THEME - ACTION
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a wizard who created all kinds of potions. One day, there was an accident and it caused an explosion that scattered seven crystals integral to the kingdom's well-being. Luckily, one of the wizard's magic gloves survived the accident and set out to recover the crystals which had transformed into rubber balls to avoid being shattered. Unfortunately, the wizard's other glove fell into an evil potion and becomes Glover's archnemesis.

A somewhat generic story, but a very unusual game. You control Glover who moves exactly like a person until he makes contact with one of the rubber balls. With a ball in hand, Glover can bounce, throw, slap, ride, push or simply let go. The various obstacles you must pass require you to clear the way without the ball, throw the ball over and follow later or move at the same time with ball in tow. A nice feature is the ability to see where and how far Glover can throw a ball via a visual flight guide which appears whenever Glover is about to throw or slap the ball. It eliminates a lot of the guesswork in figuring out where the ball will land. At any time, Glover can transform the ball into other substances other than rubberlike steel. Also, depending on the level, you will be able to turn the ball into more than just one variation. There are seven worlds with more than 20 levels filled with puzzles and obstacles for Glover to clear. Puzzles aren't the only thing our hero has to contend with. There are lots of creatures who are obstacles in themselves.

The graphics are very nice and the levels are designed differently from one another. Considering this is Hasbro Interactive's first Nintendo 64 game, it's quite an impressive debut. More so since this is a full-fledged adventure title with vast worlds as opposed to a videogame version of a board game.

Very appealing combination of platform game and puzzle, the objective being to bounce magical balls to safety.

Highly original platformer. Hair's breadth away from 'classic' status.

Because it's so different to any of the other 3D platform pretenders out there. It's not Banjo or Mario (or Donkey Kong or Twelve Tales: Conker 64, when they come out next year), but it is technically accomplished, original and fun. Difficult enough to last you a while as well.

An inspired, superbly odd idea - where players control a glove and a ball - turns out to be a stonking, but hard, 3D adventure.

It's off to Crystal castle to rescue all of the six crystals. After the Good Wizard caused a huge explosion launching all of the crystals throughout the kingdom, Glover was just barely able to prevent them from shattering by turning them into balls. Now he must complete different levels to retrieve each of the balls. To make matters worse, Glover's brother Cross-stitch is now a being of pure evil and won't be helping Glover in his quest.

Gameplay

Innovative, smart, and clever Glover really tries something new. Instead of the same old cartoon character trying to run and jump through all the obstacles, you control a glove that must push or bounce a ball through each level.

The game has six big sections: Atlantis, Carnival, Pirates, Prehistoric, Fortress of Fear, and Out of this World.

In Atlantis, you get your first shot at navigating the ball backwards. When Glover goes into water with a ball, he quickly stands on the ball to avoid sinking (Glover is not very buoyant). While standing on the ball in order to go forward, Glover must run backward. To go left, he must run right, etc., etc. The boss of Atlantis is Selwyn, a three part monster that must be divided and conquered. First throw the ball at him until you knock out the whale, then fist slam the crab and flying fish. You must wait until the flying fish flies low to get a shot at him.

At the Carnival, Glover must make his way past walls, up slim runways, and figure out how to use each of the gadgets to perform the necessary tasks. In general, each of the gadgets works by putting the ball on the red switch. This is also the level when you will really notice the lack of control over the perspective in which you see the action. You can turn the perspective but this will be blocked by even the slightest presence of an obstacle. You will also find times when you absolutely can't see Glover and you might even get smacked around and lose some lives. Glover could learn from Super Mario World in the visual perspective ability. To beat the boss at the Carnival, Glover needs to hit each of the targets around the room with the ball, then hit the clown on the nose with a well-aimed throw.

In the Pirates area, it's all about the water and you need to hit all the switches around the lake. To hit a switch under the lake you'll need to convert the ball into the ball bearing. One of the switches turns on the water powered platform that you can use to move on. On the second section, work your way around the platforms and hit all the switches, eventually you'll get a platform that will take you to the third section. Work your way through the main path and keep on the lookout for secrets. Remember, you can fist slam the ball to get more height to clear really largest obstacles.

The Prehistoric level contains a snow level with lots of slip-sliding. As you push the ball around snow sticks to it, when it gets too thick, bounce the ball to knock it off. If you see cracks in walls, you can break through them with the bowling ball. If you make it to the next level, you'll find your now in a volcano with lava lakes to cross. Work your way through each of the three sections and fight the big T-Rex. To beat the dinosaur, you'll need to slap the bowling ball towards him. If you're stuck in mid-slap when the dinosaur's fireballs come your way, press Z to get out of the way.

Fortress of Fear brings light and dark effects to challenge you and a little rain to soil your day. The problem to solve in this level involves completing an electrical circuit by pushing around gold blocks into the proper slots in the wiring. The second section is filled with booby traps and puzzles. The third section is very large, moving Glover across large wet rooftops. You'll also get to convert your ball into a large beach ball that can be thrown farther than normal. The boss of this level is a Frankenstein type guy that will chase you as your climb up the walls to hit the switch above.

Out of this World takes you to outer space where there is less gravity. To get really high you need to jump into the jet streams and grab things. From the green lake you can go up a ramp to a ball switch. The ball switch takes you to a fist switch. The fist switch brings platforms out of the green lake, one of which goes up to the UFO. From the UFO you can fire a rocket and open up the exit. The second section is a maze with many timing problems to get through. Section three is a moonbase. Remember that magnets attract the ball bearing and using the magnets, you¹ll be able to make it through the level. The bosses of this level are huge robots (look for the door in one of their feet).

The tips are helpful in the beginning but the upper levels leave you without much explanation on how to use the items that must be used to solve each level. The failing in this game is the world development. The little monsters have back and forth patterns and the bosses chase you around the screen. Once you've found all the balls or crystals and defeated the bosses, you can also go back and try to get all of the Garibs, there is a denomination of ten in each level. If you do so, you get to go in the Glover compartment, a glove hall of fame if you wish.

Make sure you do the training mode and practice all the moves. As you move along through the game, you will learn new moves as needed to make it through certain parts of the game. For example, by doing a cartwheel, Glover can squeeze between tight bars. In another situation, tapping the A button will toss the ball high into the air to make it onto high platforms

Graphics

The world is a garden variety 3-D polygon playpen. The graphics could have been better developed. The perspective or sight angles are horrible and while you can move it, it snaps back to an angle you may not like.

Bottom Line

Hasbro's first game shows a lot of creativity and promise. This is a very good game. It would be a great game if the worlds were better fleshed out, the camera angles were easier to maneuver, and the character controls were more intuitive and natural (though I understand this is extremely challenging). Basically, they should have played a few more games of Super Mario World before they called this one done. I would only recommend this game to fairly hard core video gamers who like comic animation games.

People say:

6

As sloppy as Glover is at times--mostly thanks to a crappy camera--and as lame as the story may be, it's still pretty fun. Glover combines a little bit of action with adventure and throws in a dash of puzzle for good measure. But this same culmination of genres is what makes the game lose its identity. I wish it would've been just a puzzle game, or just a 3D action/adventure. And really, that's how the entire game makes me feel in general. I found myself saying, "I wish this game had...

Also the levels have loads of puzzle elements and are designed well, generally. But then the camera comes back to haunt me. It often ends up causing a fall to either you or your ball--either way, you're dead. It's too bad. I imagine the sequel to Glover will be pretty darn good, and I hope there is one...one that's better than the original. Overall, Glover is a good game that could've been better. Definitely rent it-you might like it."

5

To me this is really an annoying concept for a game. Learning to manipulate the hand and ball through Mario-like environments is like using chop-sticks to eat soup. I'm sure the idea is to get really proficient but I finally lost interest after futilely batting the ball against the side of a pool for 10 minutes. To me it's another game that hides under the cloak of the "kids' game" genre. Is it boring because it's for kids or is it really just boring?

8

Glover comes as a pleasant surprise--and not just 'cause it's one of those outta-the-blue games that just happens to be ready fun. This addicting hybrid is big on puzzle and exploration elements, with a heavy dollup of Marble Madness plopped in. It ail makes for a surprisingly deep game with lots of secrets and techniques to master, even if the steep learning curve throws you into the thick of things a bit too quickly.

6

I'd love to be able to wholly recommend this for its original perspective on a tired genre, but it's let down by niggles that can't be ignored. The controls seem to rely more on luck than judgment, not in the least because Glover himself and the ball seem to operate under different laws of physics. On top of this the camera system is incredibly obstructive and often makes solving the simple puzzles more difficult than necessary.

Hasbro's new N64 title may suffer . from Conker-itis as well, though Glover tosses in strategy to up the game's challenge. In T Glover, you guide a magical I glove through several worlds, juggling magical balls and changing them at will. Sounds cute, but the game's mix of puzzle and strategy elements actually makes it a lot of fun to play (to open an underwater entrance, for instance, you'll need to change the ball you're floating on into a bowling ball). Hasbro has plans to put on the gloves this fall.

In Glover, you play as a glove that must recover a series of crystals to resurrect its owner, a wizard. You can also transform crystals into either a rubbery ball, a magnetic ball bearing, or a heavy bowling ball that you can roll, toss, and bounce to help you get through the standard platform-style 3D worlds. Unfortunately, the flawed interface and poorly detailed graphics combine for a one-two punch that knocks out the little glove guy.

Clover's control issues start with severe camera problems that often leave you disoriented or blind. And due to a serious design flaw, precision maneuvers are impossible to accomplish because you must use the same button to bounce and to throw your ball. Although the physics of the various balls are dead-on, they're just too frustrating to control, especially since the dubious level design often leaves you lost and confused anyway.

Let's not forget Glover's five-fingered slap in the face to post-Banjo-Kazooie BD platformers: Even the thick patches of fog can't disguise Glover's low-detail textures, no-frills environments, and cliched cardboard bad guys. The weak visuals are complemented by a somewhat catchy but repetitive soundtrack, while very appropriate sound effects help solidify the excellent feel of the various balls.

Glover's such a tedious game to play, it ought to come with a Surgeon General's Warning: This product may cause frustration and boredom.

ProTips:

  • Look for the jalapeo on the opposite end of this platform--you'll need it to get past these strong currents.
  • On the third level, follow the blue path out from the first waterfall and around to the right to find this second waterfall and several power-ups.
  • Because it's easy to control while moving through water, use the bowling ball to reach underwater items.

Here's a real hands-on action/strategy game. In Glover you'll become...well, a white glove: all that remains of a wizard who had a bad spell day. You must retrieve six crystals scattered around your world by your explosive mistake. The powers at your command are a magic ball that you can turn into a rubber ball, a bowling bail, a steel ball bearing, a crystaL.and your abilities as a right-handed glove. You're a lefty? Oh, that glove landed in a cauldron--of pure EVIL! Glover may sound weird, but the gameplay in the preview version was imaginative and fun. Glover performs more than a handful of cool-looking stunts such as turning cartwheels, dribbling the ball, and busting a tist slam. Your basic task is to bounce, toss, or slap the magic ball to bonk enemies and solve puzzles. Glover could attain strategy stardom. If it does, Hasbro certainly deserves a hand.

Snapshots and Media

Nintendo 64/N64 Screenshots

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