When Portal Runner arrived at our offices we thought the prospect of trying a non Army Men franchise game from 3DO would be nice and something different. While Portal Runner is not an Army Men game directly, it does share many characters from the franchise thrown into a completely different story. Unfortunately it still feels too much like another Army Men game.

The story goes something like this:notorious Blue spy Brigitte Bleu, from the Army Men franchise, discovered a new kind of Portal that gave her access to many mysterious new worlds. In order to win over Sarge's love, also from Army Men, Brigitte must get rid of Vikki G. the ace reporter for the Green Army News and love interest of Sarge. Brigitte lures Vikki through one of the portals and then destroys it, in effect leaving Vikki stranded inside a new world. Fortunately, Vikki befriends Leo, a lion that was supposed to guard the portals. As a player you must guide the two through the various worlds in search for new portals and the hope of finding their way back home.

Graphics/Sound
The visual experience here ranges from some nice touches to outright below average for the powerful Playstation 2. What gives? We are not sure. It appears that the developers at 3DO have yet to come to terms with what the system can actually do. Instead shortcuts have been taken to deliver something that we have seen before a couple of years ago. The character designs are average but their movements in-game are sloppy. The environments are also basic and this is disappointing because if you look at each area you can imagine what really could have been done if the PS2 hardware was utilized to its full potential. Instead lava levels look very bland and greenery is quite flat. After seeing trees sway by using fractals in the likes of GT3 and Ico, it is painful to look at Portal Runner.
On the positive side of things, later levels begin to display more variety and sharpness that should have been done throughout the game. The CG cutscenes are also done well and convey the humorous story as it unfolds. The humor present in the game actually keeps it afloat.
Aurally, the standard sound effects found in platform games are here. The voice work is top notch but can not compensate for an otherwise weak game.

Gameplay
Portal Runner is downright frustrating to play due to its awful controls. They are too loose and as a result you will find yourself moving in directions that you do not want to move in. This usually means a death to your character or a fall off a cliff. The controls need to be tightened in order to have more precise control over Vikki and Leo. The camera movements also tend to be problematic. Even though the right analog stick allows you to move the camera around, it rarely does anything to help but instead causes further confusion unless you continuously bring the camera back around behind Vikki and Leo.
The level designs are pretty standard for a platformer. Find certain items, solve simple puzzles and get from point A to point B. Nothing that a below average gamer or child couldn't handle. The levels can be large at times, but the problem is they are not very interactive which makes each successive level boring.
An interesting addition is the Fury Meter. As Leo's Fury Meter rises, he becomes stronger, faster and more vulnerable. You will have to use some strategy and common sense in order to keep Leo at the right level of fury. This concept works at times while at others is an annoyance.

Value
Portal Runner is essentially a one shot pony. Play through the more than 25 levels to reveal one ending. We doubt many people will want to play through it again. A 2-player archery contest was thrown in for some replay value but it does little more than keep a couple of children busy for a couple of hours.

Final Word
Portal Runner is a good game for small children learning to play video games. For the rest of us, it is nothing more than a solid rental for a long Sunday afternoon.