Review Body

Reviewed: December 14, 2002
Reviewed by: Loki

Released: November 11, 2002
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone

8
8
8
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8.0

I saw Treasure Island on opening weekend and despite the bashing of the critics, the poor box-office take, the subsequent firing of Disney execs, I enjoyed this movie. I really enjoyed it. I knew it wouldn’t be long before games started to trickle in to capitalize on the franchise, but I had no idea they would be releasing almost the same week as the film. Talk about foresight!

Treasure Planet for the GBA manages to snatch a thirty-second piece of the movie and make it into a game. Granted, it is the first thirty seconds, so everyone should have the intense solar surfing scene burned into their brain cells long enough to make the connection with this game.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie or even worse, don’t plan on seeing it (gasp!), Treasure Planet is a futuristic twist on the Robert Louis Stevenson's classic pirate tale. Majestic ships sail the seas only now the sea is outer space and the ships have huge solar sails and rocket engines. Cool!

Based on the 2002 Disney animated movie of the same name, Treasure Planet (the game) follows the story of Jim Hawkins on his quest for gold and glory. Our hero must contend with dangerous booby traps and bloodthirsty pirates, only this time, Captain John Silver is a cyborg and Jim rides a solar surfer (a rocket-powered surfboard with a solar collector for a sail).

Treasure Planet is basically an extreme sports game built around finding and collecting gold and treasure while fighting pirates and avoiding deadly traps. You get to pull off all sorts of crazy moves typical to extreme surfing and you can unlock special Morph moves to vault, leap and smash your way through obstacles.

There are 19 levels that span several locations you will recognize from the movie and they are all rich with trick lines and challenging obstacles and traps. The game is a unique mix of racing and fighting and there is an underlying story told through the occasional cutscene.

The control is really tight and even though there is only a modest amount of tricks and moves, you can pull them off easily with various button combos combined with D-pad directions. The game flows fairly fast and the control manages to keep up with the action.

The levels are excellent, rich with color and alive with activity. You will surf through spaceports, alien landscapes, and far off planets on your quest for riches and glory. You will see many of your favorite characters shown in both portrait form during the cutscenes and in animated sprite form within the game.

Morph, the purple blob creature, is back and makes frequent appearances during your surfing runs. He is also responsible for your special Morph moves so keep an eye out for him. You’ll encounter plenty of alien pirates including the big guy himself, John Silver.

There are some really good special effects like laser blasts, explosions, etc. The game is played from an isometric perspective giving a 3D depth to a 2D game. The angle is well suited to the gameplay.

There is a good selection of music that seems to be midi versions of select pieces from the movie. The sound effects are all very well done as you might expect from a Disney release.

If you play long enough and do well you will eventually unlock clips from the movie. These look and sound fantastic and will bring back great memories from the movie assuming you have seen it.

Treasure Island is a bit on the short side but keep in mind I’m probably twice the age of the intended audience for this title. I surfed by way through all 19 levels in about 6 hours, but I loved every minute of it and fully intend on playing it again, and probably again after that. Like any other extreme sports title, you can replay these games practically forever, or at least until you get tired of them. I’m sure there is some treasure I missed somewhere, and I can’t wait to go look for it.

My only complaint at all with this title is the lack of link-cable support. I can only dream of racing other surfers through these amazing levels competing for trick points or simply racing to the finish. Alas, I am all alone.

Treasure Island manages to take a small action sequence from the movie and turn it into a very fun and inventive little game. I know there are PC and console versions of Treasure Island that are exploring other genres such as adventure and strategy, but for me it doesn’t get any better than riding my solar surfer through these wonderfully creative and colorful levels. If you enjoyed the movie, especially that opening surfing sequence, then you will want to add this game to your GBA library.