Coraline is a game based on a movie based on a book. The movie is charming, creepy, and entertaining. The book is expertly handled, endearing, and magical. The game is none of these things. In fact, the game is one of the worst I have ever played.
I suppose I should have seen it coming. I mean, after all, it is a game based on a movie. However, not all game adaptations have been bad, and I was hoping for some truly inspired gameplay moments brought about by the combination of the unique world of Coraline and the Wii’s distinctive control scheme. What I got was a mangled, broken mess of a game – so sloppy and mishandled that not even the Other Mother would want it.
The game starts out with the same brilliant opening from the movie – the Other Mother’s skeletal hand is truly unnerving as it stitches together a Coraline doll and sets it free out the window. After that, everything goes downhill. Perhaps it’s apropos then, that after the initial opening sequence, the doll, like any semblance of quality, has simply vanished into thin air.
Coraline is a glorified sequence of unfun, uninspired minigames that loosely string together to form what was once a cohesive story. The first problem however, which you will notice right away, is the game’s pacing. For whatever reason, the game assumes that you would rather spend time doing chores (yes, actual housework) in Coraline’s house than actually start your adventure. Never mind exploring the Other World, YOU have to water the plants. The only plus-side to these miserable exercises is that if you fail one, you can spend buttons (earned by winning other minigames) to skip it.
The pacing continues to plod on until about 3/4 of the way through the game, where the developers realized that they still needed to jam a climax in there somewhere. These final segments, which are exciting and fun in the movie, are now relegated to frustrating button pressing sequences, which are unskippable and made even more difficult by the fact that the Wiimote lacks easily-distinguishable buttons. Is it telling me to press B or Z? Which button is Z again, anyway? The game doesn’t even conclude where the movie does. Instead, it opts to end well before the movie’s ending and not even include the final FINAL battle with a certain character’s appendage.
The controls are horrid. Most developers that make games for the Wii try and use the motion controls in interesting and fun ways. Although many end up going overboard, at least they take advantage of the system’s gimmick. Coraline, on the other hand, doesn’t use the motion control for anything you would think it would. For example, you have a slingshot, and when equipped, you enter into a third-person aiming mode almost akin to Resident Evil 4. However, don’t think for even one second that you’re going to be able to use the Wiimote to aim. No, you have to use the joystick to move the cursor, as if you were playing this on any other console. The absence of motion control for these sequences and others (including a marble rolling minigame) is unthinkable. Yet, when you approach a photograph, you can draw on it by shaking your controller like an infant shakes a rattle. This is the most “motion control” you will experience for the entire game.
The non-motion controls aren’t any better. The A button, for example, makes Coraline stop moving and hop a couple of inches off the ground. It is completely worthless and is never used the entire game. She can kick with the B button, but when you try to kick an enemy, you get hurt. When you pick up a crate for a box-moving puzzle (of which there are far too many), Coraline suddenly becomes unable to move in anything but a grid-like fashion, which can cause problems when maneuvering in cramped quarters.
I suppose it goes without saying that the AI of the enemies would be terrible as well, but Coraline sets a new low in adversary stupidity. Sure, they’re just rats and bugs, but even a rat will MOVE OUT OF THE WAY when you’re firing a slingshot at it repeatedly. Coraline’s nemeses, rather, are content to just sit there while they are murdered. Perhaps it’s a blessing that there are no boss battles in the game. I can’t imagine what it would be like to battle a comatose Other Mother.
The graphics are terrible. The game looks like a first-generation LAST-gen title. Not to mention there are graphical glitches nearly everywhere you turn. When you pick up a box, for example, it casts no shadow on the floor, making it appear as though your shadow is carrying nothing in its comically out-stretched arms. Eventually the developers get so lazy that they begin to even misuse certain character models – a non-button-eyed Miss Forcible shows up in the Other World near the end of the game.
The music is the only area that isn’t a complete failure. Although I didn’t recognize any of it from the movie, most of it is agreeably atmospheric, and some of it is downright disturbing. In fact, some of the songs would feel more at home in a survival horror game than a children’s title.
The only aspect of the game that carries a semblance of replay value is the shop, where you can purchase things that mostly aren’t worth your while. The cheats are nice, since some of them allow you to skip through the game without being forced to play it. There are also movie clips to buy, but you may as well just wait for the DVD to come out. That way you won’t have to suffer through the rest of this game to see them.
It really depresses me that a game based on such a fantastical work of fiction could end up being this unimaginative and boring. I really can’t recommend this title to even the most ardent Coraline fan. The game has no redeeming qualities of which to speak. It’s pure, licensed trash, and the Wii deserves better.
