Ben 10 (2006, HyperScan) by Semi-Logic Entertainment

Current Any% Leaderboard (Speedrun.com)

GAMES FROM THIS EPISODE OF AVGN:
–Ben 10
–X-Men
-Marvel Heroes
-IWL: Interstellar Wrestling League
-Spider-Man

NOTE: all games featured in this episode that were considered were Mattel HyperScan games.

I could go into the HyperScan console here, brought to us by the folks at Mattel in 2006.  But I’d be opening Pandora’s Box… instead, I’ll give you the very, very short version: It sucks.

Ok… fine.  It loads slower than anything I’ve ever played, the console is flimsy and cheap, it uses CD-ROM in 2006 and looks like a glorified Sega Genesis game.  The controller is awful, the games have terrible input lag, the console has hard-wired COMPOSITE cables (again, 2006!) with no other output options… and oh, by the way, you must (yes, MUST) purchase additional packs of cards if you even want to play these games.

So… are the games even worth it- oh who am I kidding?  These are abysmal!

Ben 10 is (possibly?) the best of the bunch, and the only game which I wanted to learn and run.  It’s pretty easy (which tends to be a trend with most of these games), giving you infinite lives and respawns, and TONS of buffs and de-buffs (via card scans) to make the game even easier.  And, with the exception of perhaps 3 or 4 stages, most of these offer little to zero challenge for any gamer worth their salt.  You’ll find yourself yawning by the third stage.  This game is outright boring.

The loading screens are abysmal, with 1 before each stage lasting about 1:30 or so, and another after each stage (before the results screen) lasting an additional 30 or so.  It’s literally the worst I’ve ever seen.  I’ve seen bad Neo-Geo CD games, PS1 games, TurboGrafx-16 CD games… none of them hold a candle.  This is borderline unplayable.

Fortunately, the gimmick of card-scanning is kind of fun, if not absolutely annoying to keep track of the cards.  You need quite a few to play, and keeping them in order is a challenge in itself.  That said, it’s a neat spin on speedrunning, with different options to pick from.  Each stage can be tackled in multiple ways, with some characters offering more speed, while others take enemies out quickly.

There is no sugarcoating it here: this is a terrible game to speedrun. This console is a terrible thing to play.  There’s nothing here for anyone except fans of the biggest jank, or fans of obscure video game content.  But considering the extremely high entry level to even attempt this speedrun (I personally spent over $200 on the console, game, and cards, when I bought them back in 2019), I can confidently say that nobody out there should consider learning this speedrun.  But if you feel like this is the game for you, there’s at least something there… I suppose…