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In a world overrun by Super Mario’s and Crash Bandicoot’s, it's hard to believe that there are still some ventures in platform gaming that haven't already been attempted. It seems though, that Microsoft Game Studios has found something that indeed has never been done before. In Voodoo Vince, you play as a 10 inch tall voodoo doll that kicks his own ass to defeat surrounding enemies, and you'll have a blast doing it.

Voodoo Vince has a very basic, bare bones kind of storyline: You are Vince, a voodoo doll of a mysterious woman known as Madame Charmaine. Vince is brought to life through the use of a magical substance that is accidentally unleashed when 2 hoodlums break into Madame's shop. Madame Charmaine ends up kidnapped by the end of things, and it's up to Vince, a magical voodoo doll to be able to save the day.

As Vince, you'll have access to the usual assortment of moves: jump, punch, spin attack, hover, and a head bash attack. All these things have been done before... a lot, but these are not the base appeal of Voodoo Vince. The one major aspect of gameplay that truly sets this game apart from the countless other platformer wannabe mascots is Voodoo magic. Throughout the game, Vince will find Voodoo icons that contain new Voodoo magic. When Vince unleashes a Voodoo magic near an enemy, or a group of enemies, all the damage taken to Vince is transferred to the enemies. For example, one of the Voodoo powers has Vince being cut in half by a chainsaw. Once Vince gets cut in half, the effect is reflected on the surrounding enemies and they all end up in 2. There are tons of Voodoo powers to be found throughout the game, and all of them are equally funny. Some of them include UFO attacks, falling cows, and anvils just to give you a rough idea what you're dealing with here. All these powers are extremely funny to watch (especially for the first time), and you'll find yourself enjoying them over and over.

Aside from the Voodoo magic, this game shares nearly everything in common with every other platform game on the market already. You run around jumping and attacking, and collecting different items to increase your health and magic bars, with the odd vehicle level here and there to break up the tried and true platformer gameplay. Vince will have the opportunity to pilot air balloons, rats, swamp boats and other numerous out of the ordinary vehicles throughout the games rather inspired levels.

Vince makes his home in New Orleans, and suitably enough, the game sports a very upbeat jazzy soundtrack. All of the games music is very fitting given the New Orleans setting, though it won't suit everyone’s tastes. The games sound effects are also very light hearted, though they're very run of the mill, to be expected kind of sounds. Surprisingly enough, the voice acting in Voodoo Vince is actually pretty good. The characters voice actors all perform very well, and do their respective characters a fair amount of justice.

Visually, Voodoo Vince looks better than a lot of current platform games, but won’t win any awards for graphics achievement. Everything has a light hearted feel and gives off one of those late teen, early adult cartoon kind of vibes. Vince himself is just plain cool looking. He's a 10 inch Voodoo doll with unevenly sized eyes, pins sticking out of his head, and patches all 'round. The game boasts some pretty inventive enemies too, the likes of Ginger'dead' men, 'Kill'adillos, which are essentially Armidillos that explode, and others. The different locales you will be visiting are all very well laid out and full of things to do. When you first enter an area, you will notice the nice lighting effects and crisp details that make up every area of the game. While Voodoo Vice may not be a work of visual magnificence, the clean and sharp graphics more than do the job.

After sitting down with Voodoo Vince for a couple hours, you'll be hooked on the tongue-in-cheek humor, the crazy areas, and the interesting characters. The game is a blast to play, and beating up that poor little doll is one of the funnest things to hit the platforming world since squishing Goombas. Definitely give this one a look.