Story

• You start by picking your character from one of six possibilities.
• You can then select a difficulty setting of Easy, Normal or Hard.
• Like many other games you name your character.
• Woody Woodpecker is you guide during the game. He controls all the lines at the attractions and also exchanges items for points.
• Your player is given a stamp card and told to explore all the eight attractions in Universal Studios.
• You must get a stamp for each attraction in the park.
• Also throughout the game there are hidden letters that spell out Universal Studios.  If you find all 16 letters you’ll earn a stamp.
• The object of the game is to complete all the attractions in Universal with the most points possible.

 Gameplay

• You are able to explore and play through eight Universal attractions.
• Backdraft – your objective is to save people from a blazing building.
• Jurassic Park – fire at dinosaurs as you try to escape the park.
• WaterWorld – you watch a demonstration of a climactic scene from the movie WaterWorld.
• The Wild Wild Wild West – you have a shootout against five fast gunmen.
• E.T. Adventure – your objective is to deliver E.T. to the mothership
• Animation Celebration – Woody Woodpecker has a 10 question movie quiz, 15 slide puzzles and a card match game for you. 
• JAWS – toss barrels and other items at Jaws to keep him from attacking your boat.
• Back to the Future the Ride – chase Biff through history and keep smashing into Biffs DeLorean until he is too damaged to escape.
• You’re given a stamp card at the beginning of your adventure.  Each attraction has a place for a stamp on the card.
• Good Score = Red stamp
• Bad Score = Blue stamp
• Game over = No Stamp
• It is important to talk to people throughout the theme parks. People with a “!?” over their head have important information that they want to share.
• Many items will help you go to the front of the line at the attractions.
• E Pass – use this once to enter any attraction.
• Hats – use these to gain unlimited access to a specific attraction.  There are six different hats: Wild West Cowboy Hat, Firefighter, Helmet, BTTF Hat, E.T. Hat, Jaws Cap and JP Cap.
• Other Items – these items affect how fast you can run.  These items are the T-Rex shoes and the Hover Board.
• All items are bought with points that you earn during your adventure through the park.  One way to collect them is to pick up trash throughout the park and place it in the trash cans.
• You can play Attraction Mode without going through the park once you’ve successfully completed the attraction in the regular game. 

Multiplayer

• Two attractions can be played as two-player games in Attraction Mode.
• The Wild, Wild, Wild West
• Animation Celebration
• The addition of another player will do nothing except make the other person wonder why you are wasting their time.

Graphics

• Static background graphics smooth and pretty detailed.
• Characters are rough, blurry and pixilated.
• It’s very hard to see face details, even in your own character.
• Theme park guest movements & paths are repetitive.
• You see the same people pass you again and again on the same screen.
• Overall the graphics were very low quality and seem rushed.

Sound

• Soundtrack consists of Jazzy music consisting of a variety of horns and piano.
• The jazzy music isn’t consistent with the theme park feel of the game.
• You can hear footsteps of your character as they run or walk through the park.
• No voice acting and any conversations are in word bubbles on the screen.
• Chimes sound when garbage is picked up.
• There is an awful metal banging sound when trash is thrown in the trash can.
• For a better experience, I thought it would’ve been nice to hear themed music for each attraction as you got closer to the attraction.

Captivation 

• This game was disappointing overall.
• Once you try this game you will not have a problem putting down the controller and not looking back.
• If you can or even want to play it to the end, it won’t take you very long

Final Thoughts

• This game was interesting but nothing that I’d want to play again.
• I feel they could’ve expanded on the game play and included many more of the attractions found in the Universal Studios Theme Park.
• The graphics and sound were bad and could’ve been done better.
• Overall the game was just boring and shallow.

Bottom Line

• If you own every other game made for the GameCube, then pick up Universal Studios to try.  Otherwise there are better games to play.