Saturday 22 November 2014

Top Ten Animated Movie Tie-In PlayStation Games #4


#4: Chicken Little (PS2)

In 2005, Disney released its 46th animated feature, and the first to be animated entirely in CGI. With all the hype and merchandise that accompanied it, Chicken Little had the potential to be a big thing but its convoluted, meandering plot meant it amounted to little more than… well, ‘little’. It’s not a bad film as such – some aspects of it are rather clever. But the plot is more than a little muddled, and it ultimately lacks originality, relying a little too heavily on pop culture references and well-worn clichés. Indeed, it seemed Disney had laid an egg (pun intended). Consequently, the tie-in video-game that accompanied it has essentially been forgotten about, along with the movie itself. In retrospect, however, it’s a surprisingly challenging and mostly enjoyable experience.

The game follows the eponymous Chicken Little in his attempts to win over his dad, regain his dignity, and prevent an alien invasion. Sounds rather complex, doesn’t it? While hardly the game’s fault, the plot itself is perhaps the single aspect that’s most detrimental to game’s overall appeal; it just doesn’t feel cohesive. Instead, it’s episodic and feels more like a batch of mini-games as opposed to a coherent movie plot adaptation. This is particularly unfortunate as the game exhibits glints of greatness. There’s nothing there that screams ‘masterpiece’, but it’s certainly not a bad egg. Throughout you collect acorns to replenish your health, as well as collector baseball cards to unlock bonus levels. This is nothing innovative, of course, but it demonstrates an allegiance to the movie, which is more than can be said for many post-PS1 movie tie-ins. It’s just unfortunate that this allegiance makes the game appear far worse than it really is!

That said, it is most definitely not flawless. Some of the controls are awkward, particularly the driving levels. Most moves completely defy the laws of physics and require some getting used to. It’s not a substantial learning curve, but an adjustment is in order that’s difficult to grasp. For example, as soon as your vehicle hits an object, you often find yourself spiralling out of control, no matter how severe the impact. In addition, some levels, particularly ones in which you control Runt or Fish careening down a corridor laden with obstacles, traps and pitfalls, prove quite tiresome due to the overly sensitive controls. That’s not to mention that it can get very repetitive. Unfortunately, this makes a large portion of the game feel like filler material.

There are a few minor issues I have with the game; the first is that it could do with being shorter. While only average in length, several of the levels appear as though they’re copied or even identical, with only very minor differences. There’s nothing overly problematic in terms of gameplay, but the repetitive locations and tasks detract from the game’s enjoyableness. The other main criticism I have (and it is a very minor one) is that none of the characters blink. It’s really quite bizarre. I understand, of course, that this isn’t one of the biggest issues that could be addressed, but it does raise questions about the consideration (or lack of) given to the character animations and visual appeal. In any case, it doesn’t look bad at all, and captures the zany aesthetic of the film perfectly (granted, that might not be to everybody’s tastes). Perhaps I’m just being nit-picky.

In any case, Chicken Little for the PS2 is hardly what I’d call a ‘big thing’. But it’s a pleasant experience. It’s not exactly a brilliant game but it’s enjoyable enough, and fairly faithful to the feature. In all, it’s something of a curate’s egg, so to speak (that’s the last egg pun, I promise). It has its pros and cons, and the movie itself probably played a part in tarnishing its credibility. Ultimately, however, while the quality of Disney’s output was the subject of debate by this point, their movie tie-ins were still going strong, sure as eggs.

(Okay, I lied. But that’s it, I swear).


7/10

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