Gamepro Magazine and Joyride Studios have managed to work with certain game companies (Sega and Nintendo are two of the bigger names) to create a series of figures and vehicles based on videogame characters. Each figure/vehicle comes in a special fold-out blister pack with tips and information on the game that the character is from.

The first series of figures that came out in July includes Eddie and Elise from SSX Tricky, Sonic the Hedgehog, Violet and Sinder from Cel Damage and AiAi/MeeMee from Super Monkey Ball. In September, be on the lookout for Shadow from Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Moby from SSX Tricky, Akira and Lau from Virtua Fighter 4, GonGon/Baby from Super Monkey Ball and Axle from Crazy Taxi. The third series, slated for November 2002, will include Jacky from Virtua Fighter 4, Psymon from SSX Tricky, Link from the Legend of Zelda series, Luigi from Luigi's Mansion, Mammoth and Flame from Command & Conquer Renegade and Slash and Angel from the Crazy Taxi series. Each of the figures comes with their own base for display.

This is the kind of series that definitely plays towards fans of the games. I will commend Gamepro and Joyride for doing a series for games that might not get their own figure lines (Cel Damage, Super Monkey Ball) and also including some big names (Sonic, Link) to sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, though, I found most of the figures to look okay. While you can tell who each of the figures is supposed to be, most lack a good amount of detail. In fact, some look to be modeled plainly and have only a decent paint job. Even worse is the fact that they have very little in the way of poseability and accessories. Some of the figures have the basic joints (arms, legs, head), while others, like Sonic and Shadow, have no poseability outside of turning their heads. The vehicles on their own look okay, but just aren't done well enough to be standouts.

Each of the series is out in limited quantities and Joyride has announced that they plan to release limited prototype and 1st production versions. Also, expect sometime down the line for Joyride to do a series of figures based on the Gamepro editor's cartoon personas.

To be honest, unless you're a fan of the games that this series includes, you'll want to skip on it. The series is okay, but compared to a lot of the competition, it has neither the detail or playability to make people want to rush out and hunt for them.

- - Vane