Ooga Booga

Ooga Booga
Developer(s)Visual Concepts
Publisher(s)Sega
Producer(s)John Race[2]
Programmer(s)Nathan Bamberger
Evan Harsha
Mark Roberts
Artist(s)Collin Fogel
Leandro Peñaloza
Marten Lundsten
Composer(s)Brian Luzietti
Larry Peacock
Platform(s)Dreamcast
Release
  • NA: September 11, 2001[1]
Genre(s)Action, party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Ooga Booga is an online multiplayer video game for the Dreamcast, focusing on the combat of "Kahunas" using thrown shrunken heads, riding animals, staffs, or using spells. The game received positive reviews from video game critics.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

The storyline is that Ooga Booga is a volcano goddess that creates islands, and has leaders of tribes, the Kahunas, that battle for her favour.[3] It has a distinct Polynesian style and tone, and has many multiplayer islands and characters which can be unlocked. It was one of the last online games for the Dreamcast. There are four basic Kahunas that the player can use: Hottie (balanced), Fatty (strong), Twitchy (fast), and Hoodoo (spells).[4] There are other unlockable Kahunas based on the main four. Some of them include Death, Abe (former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln), Superguy (superhero), disco guy, a leprechaun, and a dwarf.

Development and release

Ooga Booga was developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega. The game started out as a real time strategy game about a horse-man converting village tribes to your side through magic spells, It was later made into an arena fighter instead. The game was first announced during Sega Gamer's Day 2000. It previously had the tentative title of "Resurrection".[5][6] The game was showcased at Sega's E3 2001.[7] The title included copy protection.[8]

On January 26, 2018, private server support was enabled by the Dreamcast Live community, making it possible to play the game online once again.[9]

Reception

Ooga Booga received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[10] The Los Angeles Times compared the game to Ico for the PlayStation 2.[19] Gary Whitta of NextGen called it "A tasty slice of lightweight party fun that proves there's life in Dreamcast yet."[16] Star Dingo of GamePro said, "Ooga Booga's spell unleashes more chaos than strategy, yet the sheer cartoonish energy of it all could easily turn these island festivities into a regular tribal custom."[20][b]

Notes

  1. ^ Three critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 8/10, 6/10, and 7/10.
  2. ^ GamePro gave the game three 3.5/5 scores for graphics, sound, and control, and 4/5 for fun factor.

References

  1. ^ "Ooga Booga". Sega. Archived from the original on February 2, 2002. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  2. ^ pcwzrd13 (January 19, 2017). "Interview with Ooga Booga's Producer, John Race (OogaboogaGame) on twitter". Dreamcast Live. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Fielder, Joe (September 17, 2001). "Ooga Booga Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 5, 2001. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Burch, Anthony (April 24, 2007). "Games time forgot: Ooga Booga". Destructoid. Gamurs. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (June 16, 2000). "Resurrection: The Next Visual Concepts Game?". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  6. ^ Ahmed, Shahed (November 9, 2000). "Sega Gamer's Day 2000: Sega Announces Ooga Booga". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  7. ^ IGN staff (May 22, 2001). "Post-E3: Sega". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Cowan, Danny; Hartel, Brady (September 2008). "When Game Companies Strike Back". Hardcore Gamer. Vol. 4, no. 3. Prima Games. pp. 35–39. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  9. ^ pcwzrd13 (January 26, 2018). "Ooga Booga Is Back Online!". Dreamcast Live. Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ a b "Ooga Booga". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Johnston, Chris; Sewart, Greg; Hsu, Dan "Shoe" (October 2001). "Ooga Booga" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 147. Ziff Davis. p. 150. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  12. ^ Steinberg, Scott (September 21, 2001). "Ooga Booga". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on November 5, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "Ooga Booga". Game Informer. No. 102. FuncoLand. October 2001.
  14. ^ Sempai (October 17, 2001). "Ooga Booga". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 13, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  15. ^ Chau, Anthony (September 18, 2001). "Ooga Booga". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  16. ^ a b Whitta, Gary (December 2001). "Ooga Booga". NextGen. No. 84. Imagine Media. p. 112. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Rector, Brett (October 19, 2001). "'Ooga Booga' (DC) Review". Extended Play. TechTV. Archived from the original on February 12, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  18. ^ Steinberg, Scott (October 9, 2001). "Ooga Booga". Playboy. Playboy Enterprises. Archived from the original on March 6, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  19. ^ Curtiss, Aaron (October 25, 2001). "Beauty and the 'Ooga Booga'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  20. ^ Star Dingo (November 2001). "Ooga Booga" (PDF). GamePro. No. 158. IDG. p. 138. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved February 8, 2023.