#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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