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Choose Your Own Nightmare: Curse of the Mummy
Other // Unrated
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
When I was in elementary school, I was an avid fan of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series, where, at critical points, the reader determines the path of the story. I assumed that those sorts of books went the way of Pogs and Fruit Bars (so good...and ugly!), but apparently Bantam hasn't entirely forgotten. The "Choose Your Own Nightmare" series has made its way to DVD, and although a mummy adventure wouldn't have been my first pick, "Curse of the Mummy" manages to be pretty entertaining, despite the fact that I'm several times older than its likely intended audience. In "Curse of the Mummy", two middle schoolers, Zack and Josh, are doing some research for a science project when they discover that the museum's curator has stolen an amulet offering the promise of eternal life from an Egyptian exhibit. Much to his dismay, Zach learns that if the reawakened mummy doesn't have his amulet returned, he and his friend are going to pay...with their lives! (cue ominous music)
Video: "Curse of the Mummy" is animated, and although the quality of the computer animation looks like something shown between levels on a Playstation game, what's shown is represented well. No noticeable artifacts, even around the occassionally jagged-edges of the computer graphics. Due to the digital-to-digital nature of the disc, none of the usual nasties -- grain, edge-enhancement, dust, or print damage -- rear their ugly heads. The video is letterboxed at 1.78:1 and is not enhanced for widescreen televisions.
Audio: Impressively for an interactive story for kids, "Curse of the Mummy" features a pretty nice Dolby Digital mix. I didn't notice too much in the way of directional effects, but the audio did do a very nice job of providing the appropriate atmosphere.
Supplements: The only supplement is a set of previews for similar titles. Since "Curse of the Mummy" is an interactive story, it doesn't really scream out for any extras, though a 'making of' featurette would've been interesting.
Conclusion: If you've seen a kid reading a book in the "Choose Your Own Nightmare" series, chances are that he or she would enjoy "Curse of the Mummy". The dialogue will probably have teenagers groaning and the computer animation isn't nearly as sophisticated as in other titles, but taken for what it is, "Curse of the Mummy" is a lot of fun. The number of different paths that can be chosen add an incredible amount of replay value. Also, the fact that it's not just a game may be appealing to parents It requires situation-based decision making, and there's a somewhat short (reasonable, though) time to make these decisions. For its intended audience, "Curse of the Mummy" (with an ESRB rating of 'E' for 'Everyone') is a definite rental and a recommended purchase. "Curse of the Mummy" retails for $19.99 and can be found online for considerably less.
Video: "Curse of the Mummy" is animated, and although the quality of the computer animation looks like something shown between levels on a Playstation game, what's shown is represented well. No noticeable artifacts, even around the occassionally jagged-edges of the computer graphics. Due to the digital-to-digital nature of the disc, none of the usual nasties -- grain, edge-enhancement, dust, or print damage -- rear their ugly heads. The video is letterboxed at 1.78:1 and is not enhanced for widescreen televisions.
Audio: Impressively for an interactive story for kids, "Curse of the Mummy" features a pretty nice Dolby Digital mix. I didn't notice too much in the way of directional effects, but the audio did do a very nice job of providing the appropriate atmosphere.
Supplements: The only supplement is a set of previews for similar titles. Since "Curse of the Mummy" is an interactive story, it doesn't really scream out for any extras, though a 'making of' featurette would've been interesting.
Conclusion: If you've seen a kid reading a book in the "Choose Your Own Nightmare" series, chances are that he or she would enjoy "Curse of the Mummy". The dialogue will probably have teenagers groaning and the computer animation isn't nearly as sophisticated as in other titles, but taken for what it is, "Curse of the Mummy" is a lot of fun. The number of different paths that can be chosen add an incredible amount of replay value. Also, the fact that it's not just a game may be appealing to parents It requires situation-based decision making, and there's a somewhat short (reasonable, though) time to make these decisions. For its intended audience, "Curse of the Mummy" (with an ESRB rating of 'E' for 'Everyone') is a definite rental and a recommended purchase. "Curse of the Mummy" retails for $19.99 and can be found online for considerably less.
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