The game developed by Visual Concepts, better know for their Sega Sports franchises is designed principally as a multiplayer game, whether it be split screen or online. Up to four players take on the role of a witch doctor or Kahuna, who are charged with the task of kicking seven shades of the brown stuff out of each other in an attempt to appease the volcano Goddess Oooga Booga. This translates to a choice of three tribal themed games played out from a third person perspective on small desert island arenas. The three modes on offer are, Smakahuna, which is a standard deathmatch type affair, rodeo, where points can only be scored whilst riding a boar (more on that latter) and boar polo, where the objective is to drive a giant rock down the playing field and score a goal.

The first thing that strikes the senses on boot up is the captivating presentation. The game possesses a wonderful cartoon style, which permeates throughout the menu system and the game proper, without resorting to cel shading. It definitely has a unique style and the design of the environments and characters are exemplary. Once the necessary decisions have been taken on game mode and character type, of which there are four with varying abilities, its time to enter one of the small island arenas and do battle.

The gameplay is actually pretty similar, whichever of the 3 game types are chosen. In each case the player guides their Kahuna around the island, attacking the other players’ Kahunas with a number of different mechanisms. The basic attack is a club swing, which adds 2 points to the batters score and sends their opponent tumbling head over heals. The Kahunas also have a simple ranged attack, whereby they can throw a shrunken head at an opponent for a 1 point score. These shrunken heads are available in limited quantities and managing their collection and use is critical when playing against advanced opponents. The third attack form is the use of spells. Spells appear as icons that can be picked up and used by all Kahunas, but cannot be stockpiled in vast quantities. Spell effects are similar to those found in Populous with fireballs, lightning strikes and whirlwinds all making an appearance. The scoring for the spells is well balanced, with spells like lightning, which are nearly impossible to dodge and capable of striking multiple opponents only scoring a single point per hit. The fourth type of attack is through the use of the native wildlife on the island. Players can approach a bird or boar and stun them with a swing of the club and then jump on for a ride. Boars careen around the island at a fixed gallop, turning under the command of the player, butting into all and sundry sending opponents soaring through the air. Birds on the other hand afford the player the power of flight, with full control of altitude and direction; once airborne, players can launch homing heads (a sort of homing missile) on their adversaries below. The final trick up Ooga Booga's sleeve is the inclusion of Tikis (totem poles), which provide a much-needed strategical element to the game. For the cost of a large number of shrunken heads, Tikis can be awoken and aligned to fight on behalf of the player, attacking any nearby enemies, or enemy Tikis.

Control of the Kahuna is very intuitive, with the controls for movement and camera correction on the stick and triggers respectively. This leaves the face buttons free to execute all of the offensive moves. Although the controls respond instantly there is often an excruciating wait whilst the Kahuna winds up for a spell or an attack. In part this is necessary to balance the game, as an instantaneous response would provide no opportunity for evasion by other Kahunas. Whilst on the subject of balance it’s important to note that a lot of thought and effort has gone in to fine-tuning the combat and scoring system to provide a beautifully equitable playing experience. The easiest way to describe it is to think of it as a more complex version of paper-scissors-stone, with certain spells being effective in certain situations, for example, the lightning spell is excellent for knocking Kahunas off of boars and in turn boars are excellent at dispatching enemy Tikis into the surrounding ocean.

The game does have a few niggles. To start with it’s necessary to unlock the spells and animals in the single player game before they can be enjoyed in the multiplayer game. Annoying, but hardly unforgivable. Additionally, what starts off as being a promising and amusing aural treat, with each Kahuna having a set of phrases for each attack and some great spot effects for each and every situation, after a few battles it all becomes annoying and repetitive. This is surprising considering the vast number of spot effects and colour commentary that visual concepts cram into their sports titles. Again this is annoying, but not a serious problem.

Despite all of the loving attention put into producing a well balanced, visually beautiful and at times comedic game, it’s galling to find that Ooga Booga fails to achieve the basic point of a video game, in that it simply isn't all that much fun. The reason for this will become apparent to anyone who plays the game for an extended period. Once the controls have been mastered and the various spells and wildlife put to best advantage, the game degenerates into chaos, with the player spending half the time being launched through the air and the other half running around with their backside on fire. This can be amusing for a time, but quickly becomes frustrating, as there is no way to counter or block an attack. The only way to win at Ooga Booga is to strike before your opponent gets the chance to strike, as being on the receiving end renders the player prone to an almost endless string of follow up attacks, and woe betide any Kahuna who lands in the water, where it is impossible to attack, but very possible to be attacked.

One caveat to all of these negative closing remarks is that Ooga Booga should be part of any serious Dreamcast collection, for the simple reason that it’s a unique game that will probably never be released or updated on another platform, now that Visual Concepts are back to their staple diet of Nxx2kx sports titles. Besides in the short term it can be a lot of fun and quite diverting.