I had the unfortunate pleasure of
trying to watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs at the theaters recently. It
was unfortunate because my two-year-old daughter didn’t want to sit still, which
caused me to miss parts of the movie (my six-year-old son seemed oblivious to his
sibling’s outbreaks). What I did get to see I wasn’t very impressed with. Meatballs, to me, was just another kid movie that lacked the charm and appeal
that we see in the Pixar movies. Yet, I was still intrigued to give the
video-game a chance to see if maybe the game could be better than the movie.
In case you didn’t see the movie the
premise of the game follows the adventure of the Flint Lockwood. Flint is a
gifted and very eccentric inventor who creates some of the most bizarre
inventions you could imagine. One of his most amazing inventions is a device
that creates food from the moisture in the air, called the F.L.D.S.M.D.F.R
(Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator). With the
device stationary over Flint’s hometown the sky is literally raining with food. Yet something isn’t quite right with the device as the portions start to become
bigger and bigger, soon causing damage to the town and the citizens. It’s up to
Flint to help the citizens in the game and to ultimately stop his invention
before it destroys the entire town.
The gameplay in Meatballs centers
upon platforming and puzzle-solving elements. You control Flint as you explore
each stage taking out bad guys (usually twisted food creatures such as gummy
bears) and solving puzzles to keep progressing through the stage. A second
player can jump in at anytime to control Steve, Flint’s pet monkey who can talk
thanks to another invention created by Flint. The progression of the game is
very linear, usually having Flint following one path throughout the stage. There are some parts where you can branch off to look for hidden items but the
majority has you in one section until you clear out the bad guys or solve a
simple puzzle to keep going. One part that seemed really strange was the game
lacked a camera control option so you’re forced to follow the in-game default
angle, which seldom moved or shifted.
The combat is very simple and easy
to get use to as the game allows you to either shake the Wii-mote or press the B
button to use your gadgets. I found myself always using the B button without
any problems or craving of wanting to shake the Wii-mote. You start off the
game with one gadget to use but gradually start to have an inventory of three
gadgets, which can be switched by pressing the Z button. As I mentioned the use
of the gadgets will vary depending on the situation. Some gadgets can be used
as weapons, while other gadgets can be used for other functions such as picking
up food. In my opinion this is where the game does a nice job of creating
puzzle-solving situations.
Each gadget will come in handy
during specific moments of the game either as a weapon or as an item. Certain
enemies in the game can only be destroyed by a specific gadget, while other
enemies require a different gadget. Then you’ll find yourself using the gadget
in unique ways in combination with each other gadgets to solve specific
puzzles. For example, the Upsucker Plus is a combination vacuum and liquid
squirter while the Bigacious Pow is a giant punching glove.
You’ll need to suck up certain
liquids with the Upsucker and then spray a path for you to move a heavy object
in the game. Once you’ve created the path then you need to use the Bigacious
Pow to hit the object to the specific location so you can keep moving in the
game. I kept becoming more and more impressed with the ways the game was making
you think about how to use the various objects on the stages and the gadgets in
your inventory. For younger players I think these elements would be a nice
change of pace from the monotonous shaking and waving that goes on in Wii games.
Besides the Upsucker and Bigacious
Pow the game has several other gadgets that you’ll have in Flint’s inventory. The Hot Enougher allows you to melt stuff while the Forkamajigger is a giant
fork that can be used to poke enemies or pickup certain objects. The Chopper-er
is simply a blade that you can use to chop up enemies or objects in the game. All of these gadgets are upgradeable as you keep clearing levels in the game. Once you’ve earned an upgraded gadget after completing a stage, the game will
take you to the upgrade gadget screen for you to choose your upgrade. Each
gadget has three levels of upgrades and the upgrades will make a difference
especially in attacking certain enemies (those dang gummy bears again).
Another unique gadget you’ll use
during parts of the game is the Outtasighter. The Outtasighter can be used in
two ways, one to propel huge food items away from the town or to suck up hot
sauce that is covering parts of the town. Controlling the Outtasighter would
become a chore at times, especially during tight spots, because the vehicle just
didn’t want to move forward all the time. I found that pressing a direction in
hopes of moving it would result in the vehicle spinning around. You get use to
the controls but it will be a challenge for younger gamers who find themselves
spinning around and around instead of moving in the right direction.
Ultimately what really lingers with
Meatballs is the overall progression of the game. The first two stages are
almost exactly the same with almost the same exact locations/building and levels
but with some minor differences. Younger gamers might not pay attention to
those details but for someone looking for variety you’ll have to wait until the
later stages. The puzzles will become very obvious and repetitive during the
early levels. The later stages will require you to get your thinking cap on but
by then you might have become exhausted from some of the repetition. Finally the
game isn’t that long since you could probably sit through most of the game in
one day.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
isn’t going to be the game that sets the world on fire with innovative and
spectacular gameplay. Instead we get a semi-polished game that has some bright
spots but plenty of dull areas to get you distracted. If you enjoyed the movie
or had kids that enjoyed the movie then you’ll probably find parts of the game
to like. Just take your time and try not to rush through the game all at once
or you’ll be left wondering if there is another serving left at the bottom of
the bowl.
Gameplay: 7.5
While the later stages offer some nice challenges with using your gadgets and
figuring out the puzzles, the early levels are rather easy and repetitive.
Graphics: 5.5
While plenty of Wii games look washed out on HDTVs I didn’t expect for this
game to look as bad as it did. I could barely tell certain characters apart
from other and the objects didn’t look any different either. We need a HD Wii
now or developers need to find the strengths of getting the Wii to look clearer
on an HDTV.
Sound: 6.5
The voice actors do a solid job of replicating the voice actors from the movie
(they sound almost the same to my ears). The music didn’t really do much for
the game and some of the voice work will be repeated over and over again.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
The early levels are easy enough but the later levels will pose a challenge to
younger players.
Concept: 7.0
I like how the game gets you to use all
of the gadgets in different ways to keep you progressing in the game. If only
the levels had more variety in them.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Really the only multiplayer is for a second player to control Steve at anytime
during the game. The player controlling Flint can keep on moving without
worrying about leaving Steve behind. The computer will automatically move Steve
close to Flint if Steve is lingering behind.
Overall: 6.5
The game might not be for everyone but the unique puzzle-solving uses of the
gadgets and one of kind setting (I don’t see many flying spaghetti tornadoes in
other games) will keep fans of the movie entertained.
