#1: A Bug’s Life (PS1)
Summer 1998 saw the release of Pixar’s second triumph,
branded an ‘epic of miniature proportions’, the fun-filled, feel-good ‘Flik’
(get it?) A Bug’s Life, and though it
isn’t universally perceived to be as engaging or interesting as their previous
feature, the ground-breaking Toy Story (1995),
Disney/Pixar’s follow-up nonetheless proved to be a worthy successor. With
stunning visuals, sublime animation and top-notch voice acting, the film proved
to be another winner in Pixar’s canon, albeit one of the least praised in
subsequent years. Coinciding with the release of the movie, Disney Interactive
and Traveller’s Tales produced a movie tie-in of the same name for the
PlayStation One, and the game was met with reviews varying from mediocre to
somewhat decent. However, in retrospect, this game is one of the very best
Disney have to offer. I might be a tad biased, being as I’ve played this game
since I was knee-high to a grasshopper (so to speak). But hear me out.
First of all, the graphics, for the time of its release, are
fantastic. The environments are particularly gorgeous, with many locations
looking almost as though they are exact replicas of those in the film. The
eerie inner tunnels of the ant hill, the vast riverbed plain, the clover forest
– they really did a great job capturing the look and feel of the movie, granted
some graphics are better than others. In addition, the animations for the
characters are also quite cute and fun.
Furthermore, the voiceover work is some of the best I’ve
heard in a video-game. Although not all the voice actors from the movie reprise
their roles in the game, the impersonators who replace them don’t do a bad job
at all. Atta, voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the movie, is here voiced by Ariel
herself, Jodi Benson, and I have to say, as percipient as I usually am, I
didn’t even notice. Hopper’s voice was fairly close too. The highlight of the
game, however, is Flik, voiced by Dave Foley. His constant interactions with
the player are a delight, and it really helps to capture the light-hearted,
upbeat aesthetic of the film.
The soundtrack, while hardly up to the standards of the
grand orchestral score of the film, nonetheless maintains a certain charm, and
fits the gameplay nicely. It does not feel imposing or irritating; for the most
part, it’s fairly melodic and enjoyable. Moreover, it maintains a certain
atmospheric quality, the music accompanying the riverbed levels and the final
showdown being particular highlights.
That is not to say, however, that the game is without its
flaws. For starters, it follows a certain structure – the game is composed of
five ‘lands’, each one comprised of three levels, resulting in fifteen levels
in total, with every third level being a boss battle. Now, initially, this does
not seem to be a problem. In fact, it seems to work well, and manages to follow
the plot of the movie surprisingly accurately. On the other hand, certain
events of the film have been reworked and even reordered, which wouldn’t be a
problem unless they affected the story. For example, in order for the game to
adhere to the set structure, Flik has to defeat the bird prior to finding the
‘warrior bugs’. Hell, if he can do that, why is he even bothering to find
them?! Another alteration is that, later on in the game, Hopper takes Atta
hostage rather than Flik, as it was in the film, but these are really the only
major changes, and I have to admit I’m being nit-picky here. For the most part,
the structure works and manages to stay very close to the plot of the film.
Yet I’m afraid that that is not the only issue I have with
this game. The camera control, though it doesn’t require too much getting used
to, is awkward and fairly slow. What’s more, you can’t turn the camera while on
the move. After a while, however, this doesn’t seem much of an issue, but it is
a little problematic. In addition, close combat attacks are pointless. The kick
is weak and far too slow to respond, so much so that it barely warrants using
it at all.
All in all, however, these are just minor setbacks in an
otherwise brilliant game. This is probably the closest video-game adaptation of
a movie I’ve ever played. The gameplay might not be perfect, but it’s filled
with vast, free-roaming environments that are fun to explore and interact with,
and ultimately, that’s what makes A Bug’s
Life a great and criminally underrated game. It manages to not only be fun
but faithful to the film – a tremendous feat.
8.5/10
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