Get caught in Rapunzel’s hair with the latest release from Disney Interactive/Planet Moon Studios.
[starreview]
Developer: Planet Moon Studios
Release Date: November 23th, 2010
ESRB: E
It’s really fantastic how Disney has managed to pull along their princess franchise as far as they have. From the 1937 release of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the studio didn’t know what they were going to get themselves into. Fast forward 50 animated films and you have a multi-billion dollar company, a theme park legacy, and a worldwide reputation. These films have carried their own weight for a long time, and with their latest release Tangled, they’ve shown that they can keep going for a while. However, this review isn’t about the movie…it’s about the kids videogame adaption that was released on November 23rd, 2010, and it has its fair share of “ups” and “downs”.
From the moment that you boot up the game, you are booted up with an intro that is put together by colored storyboards. This is actually how most of the story is told, and it’s an interesting and good way to tell it. The game starts out after Rapunzel recruited Flynn Rider on her adventure, as the two have struck a deal that he’ll take her to see the floating lanterns for her birthday, and she’ll give him his sachel with the crown back. The storyline itself is a decent length for a kids game (2-3 hours with plenty of replayability through the challenges and paintings), being split up into 7 chapters such as “First Loliac”, “Snuggly Duckling”, and “Confrontation In Tower”. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll realize it’s kind of too big per chapter, and it is frustrating that one cannot save in between chapters, because you can only quit the chapter and try again later. For a princess story, it’s a rather fun storyline and perfect for it’s target audience (Tangled fans and little children).
As for the gameplay, it plays around like an adventure platformer, having the player(s) play as Rapunzel and Flynn. The controls are simple; nunchuck to move, A for jumping/action, swinging the Wii Mote to control Rapunzel’s hair, B to attack, and Z to change characters. Simple, easy, useful, great. There are also some mini-games and challenges which can be revisited later. The gameplay isn’t too repetitive, and keeps the player’s interest throughout it’s run (and if you’re a little kid, you’ll be smilling throughout the entire thing). I will also give the game credit, because it maintains a difficulty level that is a perfect balance for all ages, seeing as both me and my brother could play it without running through it.
The multiplayer is fun as well, letting players jump in/out with little to no hassle. It also splits the players screens when they become too separated, which is always a huge “plus”.
However, where the game falls flat on it’s face is the presentation, which is horrid to say the least. The graphics are choppy and not always clear, character models are buggy, the mouths don’t even sync with the dialogue, and it makes a decent game look like no fun whatsoever.
This can’t be said about the audio, though. Alan Menken’s beautiful soundtrack gives the game life, and the voiceovers (since some are taken from the movie) are great quality and a delight to listen to.
So here’s the deal; Tangled is not that perfect game for everyone. However, it does provide enough entertainment that anyone interested in the movie/Disney should have a good time, and the multiplayer is good as well. If you have a Tangled fan out there, you might want to pick this up, and it comes with a free kid’s ticket to see the movie as well!
Thanks for the review copy, Disney Interactive/Planet Moon Studios!
