Voodoo Vince comes to life again.

3D platformers seem to be making a nostalgic return.  The remastered packaging of Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and the release of the Banjo-Kazooie’s spiritual successor, Yooka-Laylee, all tapping into that feeling.  Not to be outdone, a small cult classic from the original Xbox is getting the remastering treatment too, Voodoo Vince.  Is nostalgia wearing rose tinted glasses?  Or is Voodoo Vince Remastered worth the update?

"My grandfather was a voodoo priest. A lot of my life dealt with spirituality. I can close my eyes and remember where I come from." -  Wyclef Jean

Ah Voodoo Vince, the wise-cracking voodoo doll who is brought to life after the bad guys, Jeb and Fingers, spilled magical Zombie Dust on him while kidnapping his voodoo priestess, Madam Charmaine.  In their escape they spill so much of the Zombie Dust between Madam Charmaine’s shop and Kosmo the Inscrutable’s headquarters, they warp reality all along their escape route.  Vince’s journey takes him through under and around the French Quarter of New Orleans.

"Day in, day out. That same old voodoo follows me about." - Johnny Mercer

The colorful Saturday morning cartoon style of the original Voodoo Vince is still here, but has been overhauled for a crisper and cleaner HD experience.  Included in the upgrade is the fun jazzy soundtrack.  The rest of the game has been lifted part and parcel from the original, so no changes here.  At first glance, all the typical ‘90’s platforming elements are here.

Platforming jumps to navigate?  Check.  Puzzles to solve?  Check.  Creatures to defeat using spin moves and jump attacks?  Check.  Lots of collectibles to find and gather?  Check.  The hook for Voodoo Vince was his special voodoo powers.  Hurting himself with different moves to defeat multiple enemies and severely injure, if not outright destroy, mini-bosses.

The camera for Voodoo Vince, like almost all platformers of its time, is problematic.  It’s here that some of the charm wears a little thin. Not always staying where you put it, moving or zooming in/out at the wrong time, not always letting you get a good angle.  In some instances I understand it being locked down for an animated sequence or special puzzle part, but some places it was just pure trouble.  This happened mostly when I was trying to catch the collectible glowing skull in each level.  You end up guessing where it is as you chase it through most of the level because you can never keep the camera on it to follow it.  This causes you to end up chasing it a lot more than you should.

Overall

I played the original Voodoo Vince on the first Xbox and it was a happy surprise to hear that it was getting an HD remaster.  With the exception of Microsoft-owned franchises, very few of the games that were exclusive to the original Xbox have gotten this treatment.  The nostalgia in me enjoyed playing through it all over again, but the gamer in me wishes they could have tweaked the camera for better control and maybe made some new levels to expand on the admittedly thin story.

Voodoo Vince does still play well and increases the desire for more good platforming games, so maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll do a Voodoo Vince 2 after all these years?  One can hope!  Voodoo Vince Remastered takes us on a happy ride through the way-back machine with better visuals and family fun.  I give it 3.5 out of 5.

Voodoo Vince is available now on the Xbox Live, Play Anywhere (Xbox One and Microsoft Windows) and on Steam.