Ratatouille has just been released to theaters, and of course, there are the
obligatory games and other merchandise released simultaneously. Ratatouille is
available on most console and handheld systems, and also the PC. This review
is of the NDS version.
Ratatouille the movie has been garnering rave reviews, and the consensus so
far on the console versions appears to be that the console
games are standard representations of platform games, that while not
particularly exciting, manage to present Ratatouille in all his charm in a
solid game that kids will enjoy. The DS version is also a typical platform
game that we’ve all seen a million times on handhelds systems, but it, too,
manages to impart a particular charm. It’s an easy game to pick up and play,
it’s cute, and kids will enjoy it. It’s also extremely short, and not
challenging enough for older kids and adults.
The game’s premise is very simple, Ratatouille the
game basically follows the main elements of the movie, without really
presenting the story behind it. Ratatouille will collect various food items
and/or avoid detection from chefs and other enemies. There are eight missions,
and in them will Ratatouille will have either set quotas of items to gather,
or will have to avoid detection, or will cook up some food in fun cooking
mini-games.
Ratatouille has lots of different moves and actions: He can wall jump, wall
scramble, jump, balance, sniff, and hide. Most of the time players can
accomplish these actions with ease, but the wall jumping can be a pain at
times. Often players will have to keep trying over and over again to get
Ratatouille all the way to the top of the wall. Other than that, the movement
and jumping is pretty easy and just requires the A and B buttons. The
balancing is handled particularly well and it’s funny to watch Ratatouille
sway from side to side as he travels across the beams.
There are eight missions, each with various tasks, mostly involving collection
quotas. Everything is easy to spot and retrieve for the most part. As this
game is designed for kids, it’s all pretty easy, but it’s also too short. My
12-year-old niece was already 77% through the game after only a couple of
hours of gameplay. As I’m a little “jumping”
challenged at times, it was taking me a little longer, but not by much. It’s
entirely possible that the kids will finish up this game in one or two days
after purchase, depending on how long they spend on it at a time.
Graphically, the game is a treat and captures the charm of the movie very
nicely. Ratatouille is cute and moves smoothly around the levels. The
environments are drawn well, but don’t have a whole lot of objects in them,
other than what needs to be collected. The music is good and not annoying. The
sound effects are realistic and timely.
Besides the usual platform and collection features, there are also cooking
mini-games that are pretty neat. Players will use their stylus to cut up food
items and stir, and blow into the microphone to cool the food. These games are
fun and help break up the gameplay a bit, but
could be more varied, they’re pretty much the same.
These games are also available for multiplayer and only require one cartridge,
which is great, but playing the games themselves with others isn’t all that
big a deal. These types of cooking games are designed more for solitary play.
The bottom line is that this is an easy-to-pick-up game for younger players,
and one that is faithful to the movie. Young children will enjoy it, but older
kids won’t find it challenging enough. And, for the price tag of $30, it’s
entirely too short even for kids. There are only a couple days of play for the
money. Best for families with lots of little kids that
enjoyed the movie.
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Gameplay: 6.5
The
gameplay is fun enough, but not very challenging.
Everything is pretty easy to understand and accomplish and kids will enjoy
seeing Ratatouille run around. However, there isn’t much to this game and it
is very short. More challenges and variety of gameplay
would have helped.
Graphics: 7.5
The
animation and environments are nice to view, and the lighting is also nice and
bright. The levels are a trifle barren, though.
Sound: 7.5
The
sound affects are good and fit the movie well. The music is average, but at
least not annoying.
Difficulty: Easy
The
gameplay is very easy, which is good for young
players.
Concept: 6.0
The
game doesn’t offer anything new at all, but it is well-presented.
Multiplayer: 7.0
Overall: 6.5
Ratatouille is a decent platform game based on a movie. It’s the same as most
every other handheld game based on a movie. It’s better designed than a lot
of them and easy to play. But, it suffers from a lack of challenge and
variety, and is too short. Families with multiple young children may want to
pick it up if their kids are clamoring for it, but everyone else may want to
wait.
