Reviewed: November 28, 2005
Reviewed by: Ken Hutchinson
Publisher
Buena Vista Games
Developer
Avalanche Software
Released: October 20, 2005
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Everyone
7
8
7
6
6.8
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Game developers are forewarned over and over again to not make a movie-based game unless it’s going to be remarkably good. Sure, some games like Shark Tale do a wonderful job recreating the movie experience for you. Sometimes, you’ll even find one that extends a gripping plot beyond the movie. But most of the time, the developers just whip up a bargain bin title and slap a non-bargain bin price on it.
Disney’s Chicken Little doesn’t exactly repeat the same flaw in movie to video game transition, but it doesn’t completely break away from the cycle either. This latest movie title is not horrible like some ports, but it isn’t spectacular either. Buena Vista Games just happened to release your average platformer that takes on the story of Chicken Little.
This action-platform title features:
- 17 action-packed levels that capture the key movie moments and environments, extending the experience into space.
- 6 multiplayer mini games for two-player fun.
- Collect and master an arsenal of gadgets including the bottle rocket jet pack, slingshot, yo-yo, cannon, and alien suit.
- Play as the lead characters from the movie, including Chicken Little, Fish-Out-of-Water, Runt of the Litter and Abby Mallard.
- Movie clips and extended storyline for hours of action-packed fun and adventure!
You start the game with a glimpse into the opening scene of the movie with a theme by Barenaked Ladies. From there, you play out the different parts of the movie, from hurrying to school, to trying out for a baseball team.
In later stages of the game, you’ll get to play as Abby, Runt, and Fish. This gives you the chance to take on another movie persona if you tire of seeing Chicken Little. One of the levels even gives you the identity of the town mayor, Turkey Lurkey.
Disney’s Chicken Little has a variety of stages that do not follow the typical platform sequence. In addition to the levels where you run around finding objects, you also have levels that are more like mini-games. For example, you have a level where you play dodgeball and another where you the batter during a baseball game. I find this to be nice touch for a platformer.
Chicken Little also has mini-games to give you some two-player action. You can unlock the mini-games by collecting card series from the levels in story mode. Some of the mini-games can be pretty fun to play. Drone Dash gives players the chance to alternate between a gunner and a drone, with the gunner trying to shoot the drone. Pig Paddle brings back the days of Pong. Super Speedway is a 3-lap race with cars. Space Shooter and Saucer Smash challenge your shooting skills by seeing who can shoot down the most enemies within an allotted time. Finally, Walker War sees who can control an Alien Walker better.
Now I haven’t seen Chicken Little in the theaters yet, but watching the movie clips in the game kind of makes me want to go and see it. You can almost think of the game as a very long, playable trailer. I can’t help but think that this is another subliminal, marketing tactic employed by Disney to help boost ticket sales at the box office.
The controls are really basic. For the most part of the game, you will have two buttons to use: one to attack and one to jump. Each scene begins with a control screen to tell you which button performs which action. Chicken Little has a double jump that seems to be rather pointless. He can only jump higher than not even half of his normal jump. So if something is too high to reach with your normal jump, chances are it will still be too high for your double jump. The double jump comes into play mainly for covering long distances.
Movie clips are used for the cutscenes. Hence, the cutscenes portray the movie visuals flawlessly. The gameplay graphics are also rendered smoothly. They do a noteworthy job of reproducing the vivid colors from the movie. The texture of the environment also has a nice amount of detail put into it.
The HUD is very easy to understand. Your life bar is prominently displayed in the form of eggs. You also have an acorn counter showing how many acorns you have collected to earn another egg for your life bar. You can also see how many cards you have collected for a level.
There are times when the camera angle becomes a nuisance, being more obstructive than helpful. You’ll need to jump to small ledge and will have a hard time doing so because you can’t get the camera angle positioned correctly. At other times, the camera just doesn’t seem to follow you the way you would like it to.
Background music reminiscent of Barenaked Ladies plays throughout much of the game, giving it even more of a Disney movie feel. Other parts of the game still retain music that you would expect to hear in a typical Disney movie. It can become irritating when it loops, though. The music isn’t made for cyclical playback. The transition between the end of the theme back to the beginning is highly noticeable.
Avalanche Software did an adequate job with the sound effects. The voices capture the essence of the movie during both the cutscenes and the gameplay. If you run around a level forever, the sounds and voices can become repetitive, but you normally aren’t in a given level for an insane amount of time. Having levels that put you as a different character also helps to give different voice effects from time to time.
The story mode won’t take you but a few days to finish. There are cards that you can collect per each level. To get a set, you have to find all five cards for a given level. Once you acquire a certain number of sets, you can trade the sets in for a new mini-game. Many of the cards aren’t that hard to find. Some prove to be harder to get than others, but they are mostly attainable without too much effort. Once you collect all of the sets, you’ll have access to the six mini-games.
Many ported titles just aren’t worth the retail price that they are stated at. A lot are more worth the bargain bin price. In some cases, they aren’t even worth the bargain price. Chicken Little may not be worth its $39.99 suggested retail price, but it could be a decent title once it drops down to the $20 mark. The game does come with a movie ticket worth $7.25 for the movie, so that takes some of the sting off the full price for this budget title.
If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll probably want to after playing the game. It is like a long, interactive advertisement. You’ll get to see tidbits from the movie itself, and after seeing them, want to fill in the gaps by actually going to the theater. Luckily, the game comes with a free ticket, as long as you get it before December 31.
Disney’s Chicken Little could have been slightly better. The camera movements can be so jittery at times, you could get a feeling of motion sickness. It still can be fun to actually play the movie, as opposed to just watching it. If you plan on watching the movie, consider possibly buying the game first to get the free movie ticket. If you’ve already seen it or don’t plan on it, then you might want to wait until it drops in price.