Mark enjoys his two-year High School Wiiunion
Over three years ago the announcement of Rockstar's Bully instantly caused controversy – as seems to be the trend with titles from the publisher of GTA and Manhunt. This, claimed anti-gaming cynics, was glorifying playground bullying, encouraging players to prey upon innocent children, and generally another reason that videogames were just plain evil.
But the bandwagon jumpers were soon silenced. Bully was, in fact, a game about bashing the bullies. Set in a school full of humour and charm, boasting inventive free-roaming gameplay with none of GTA's law-breaking, and minigame classes that made playing truant seem unappealing, the renamed Canis Canem Edit soon won over critics and PS2 gamers alike – even earning our own coveted Best Story gong in our 2006 End of Year GAME Awards.
Old game, new audience
Two years after release and its publisher will be hoping for less uproar but similar sales. With Bully: Scholarship Edition, Rockstar are bringing the PS2's Canis Canem Edit to a whole new next-gen audience.
Bully: Scholarship Edition is the complete version of the PS2 title, for those who skipped the PS2 altogether or had already upgraded to 360 at the time. PS2 Canis Canem players may glean enjoyment from the revamped visuals, a few extra missions, multiplayer options and the Wii version's motion-sensing controls, but largely Bully: Scholarship Edition will appeal most to first-time players.
An endearingly spoofed adolescent adventure story pitched somewhere between Grange Hill and Napoleon Dynamite.
To recap from our review of the PS2 version, Bully: Scholarship Edition is at heart a tongue-in-cheek schoolyard romp with Grand Theft Auto's diverse free-roaming, mission-taking structure, a charming Harry Potter-esque soundtrack and an endearingly spoofed adolescent adventure story pitched somewhere between Grange Hill and Napoleon Dynamite.
For those that haven't played Canis Canem, Bully will be their first foray into the life of Jimmy Hopkins. Expelled from seven other schools, his parents have dropped him off to begin his tenure at the only place that would take him; the 'world's worst school', Bullworth Academy.
Fist-Wii-cuffs
But Jimmy's not the world's worst kid; he's just misunderstood. Upon entering Bullworth he's instantly picked on and defending himself against troublemakers, and throughout Bully: Scholarship Edition he's cast as the outsider to the game's various cliques of nerds, jocks, and greasers.
Luckily he's used to fisticuffs. Lock-on combat akin to Rockstars 2005 hit The Warriors works well both on the Xbox 360 pad and moved onto Wii, where swings of the Remote and Nunchuk punch with his left and right arms. There's also various QTEs in Bully: Scholarship Edition on Wii where you'll have to move the controllers in tandem to do things like pull wedgies, and the pointer function can be used for aiming Jimmy's crossbow. Bully: Scholarship Edition does feel like a port, then, but a well-done one.
The previously pale Bullworth entrance foyer is dazzling with its high-sheen bright yellow floor and eye-catching lighting.
The same goes for the visuals. On Wii, they're tweaked, but on Xbox 360 they're noticeably enhanced. They aren't the best example of next-gen gaming, and there are some jagged edges, but walking into the previously pale Bullworth entrance foyer is dazzling with its high-sheen bright yellow floor and eye-catching lighting. There's also distinctly more detail in characters, with facial animation in particular vastly improved.
New technology has allowed Rockstar to do more with Bully: Scholarship Edition's gameplay. The story mode, for instance, now features added missions, with the abovementioned animation coming into play in The Red Nosed Santa, for instance, whereby you'll be taking pictures of kids sat on the knee of the world's worst Father Christmas and trying to snap them smiling between tantrums.
Stellar Bully Experience
Likewise, Bully: Scholarship Edition now boasts new two-person multiplayer classes, which seem ideally suited to the Wii Remote, but work perfectly well on 360 too. Maths takes a leaf out of brain training's book, while biology sees you dissecting dead animals with different surgical implements, Geography generates a section of a world map and gives you flags to place on different countries (we found we were woefully bad at this!), while Music is possibly the most fun, with Jimmy and Gary playing a rhythm-action game by playing instruments – players moving the Wiimote and Nunchuk sharply as arrows cascade down the screen, Dancing Stage style.
Other than that, Bully: Scholarship Edition is still very much the same stellar Bully experience we all fell in love with two years ago. It's a lengthy, imaginative, witty and nostalgic take on school life that deserves to find a new lease of life with as many new players as possible, and comes highly recommended whatever your preferred system.
GAME's Verdict
- The same stellar, funny, enchanting Bully experience, just bigger and better looking
- Wonderful Wii controls and excellent enhanced Xbox 360 visuals
- New missions and Multiplayer modes add to the longevity
- PS2 Canis Canem Edit players will have seen most of it all before
- Wii visuals only slightly tweaked, Xbox 360 graphics can be a little jagged. Both show their PS2 roots
- No online modes and not all that many new missions added to the game's core story
Review by: Mark 'Bully-Bashing' Scott
Version Tested: Wii, Xbox 360
Review Published: 07.03.08