Ratatouille – GC – Review

Coming in late July, here is the
score so far for movie tie-in games.

In case you are scoring at home,
these scores are not all that great. In fact, many in the reviewing industry
almost cringe when we hear about another video game with a movie tie-in. It’s
practically a given that the game will disappoint. In fact, the only game
based on a movie I can remember being any good was the Chronicles OF Riddick –
Escape from Butcher Bay and uh, uh, well, that’s the only one that comes to
mind. And technically, that wasn’t even a game based on a movie, but based on
characters appearing in another movie.

"Crap! Oh, I mean Crab!"

OK, so in Ratatouille, you play as
Remy, a rat with taste, so to speak. It seems Remy has an affinity for fine
cuisine and being that he is a rat, that doesn’t fly in the fine French
restaurants he wishes to eat in. In the movie, he teams up with a garbage boy
Linguini to help thwart the dastardly plan of Skinner, a French chef who wants
to turn the late great Gusteau’s legacy into some cheaply produced frozen
cuisine.

So now it comes down to this, the
game does take some scenarios from the movie and expand on them a bit but
Ratatouille is a platformer through and through. Jumping around various
locales, Remy collects cheese, avoids hazards and generally appeals to young
children. Every once in a while the game kicks into a different direction and
a mini-game opens up. Most notably are the cooking sequences that reminded me
of the game "Cooking Mama". Still, the game, while predictable and easy for
adults, isn’t made for adults. It can and does provide adequate challenges for
seven year olds everywhere, adults may see some mild humor in it initially,
but trust me when I say anyone over 16 will more then likely tire of the game
and its simple gameplay after say, 30 minutes.

Jumping on to ledges, double jumps
and such are all controlled very easily. This is the type of game where you
can’t fail miserably, the game won’t allow it. The controls are designed in a
very kid-friendly way so as to make the gaming experience as enjoyable as
possible. My six-year old and my four-year old, all got to have tons of fun
playing this because of it’s ease of control. The chase sequences are
reminiscent of Crash Bandicoot scenarios with you not being able to see what’s
coming next as a large enemy bears down on you. Sliding down sequences are a
bit tougher, as you can fall off of the edge of whatever you are sliding down,
but again, we are borrowing from better platform games.

 
 "Ah ned jou fo mah ressippee!"

Being that this is the Gamecube
version of the game, and that it has slid so far down the grade curve in terms
of graphic producing power, you can imagine what I am going to say about the
look of the game. It does a fair job of producing visuals so you know what is
going on, but the game really does lack in most visual areas. The whole game
has a smoky grainy look going for it and while there are brief smidgens of
sunshine, the game merely appears average. Some of the level designs are quite
large and there is some creativity thrown into the mix when playing through
the game. Heck, you would be hard pressed not to smile at least once while
playing or watching someone play it. There is a bit of charm in the game.

Now miraculously, the developers
managed to get some of the voice actors from the movie to provide some voice
work. And while this does bring a certain amount of gravitas to the game, I am
sad to report none of the witty dialogue is present in the game. Otherwise the
sound effects and music are again, average.

Surprisingly the game offers up
more multiplayer action then I would have thought. Split screen action opens
up to provide races, a king of the mountain competition, cook offs, scavenger
hunts and others. I was surprised at the amount of competition the game
provided for the multiplayer section. And not only that, the games were
actually enjoyable to play against someone.

Gameplay: 6.0
It is not very challenging and very
easy to control, too easy.

Graphics: 6.2
While levels appear large, they
are grainy and bland. The levels do mix it up though and provide some
surprises.

Sound: 6.5
Patton Oswald is a terrific Remy,
the rest of the game’s sounds are forgettable.

Difficulty: Easy for
adults, Medium for children
You will look like a hero to your
child when they ask you to get past a tough area for them and you do it in one
try.

Concept: 5.5
A game based on a movie, hmmmmmm. Actually, they managed to put just enough
variation in the game to keep children entertained.

Multiplayer: 6.5
Easily the games strongest selling
point. Plenty of multiplayer games to keep the kids occupied for (hopefully)
days.

Overall: 6.1
Well, I had hopes that this would
be the breakout game based on a movie this year, it didn’t happen. But it does
do a better then average job of creating some entertainment for its core
audience.