Disney’s Kim Possible 2: Drakken

Kim Possible is an ultra cool cartoon teen, captain of the cheerleading squad and on the honor roll, but one who also finds time to help save the world on a weekly basis. This girl is so cool, even my college freshman enjoys the show. Disney produces the show, and is also the producer of Kim Possible 2: Drakken’s Demise, the second game from Disney featuring Kim Possible on the Game Boy.

The Design team this time around is A2M, who also designed Ice Age. The good news is that this game is much, much better than Ice Age, their previous GBA effort. The bad news is that the difficulty level is entirely too high for kids, who I would assume are the target audience.

This game’s platforming format is different from the previous Kim Possible, which was basically a shooter with a few platforming elements. In Kim Possible 2, these platforming levels make good use of Kim’s athletic abilities (she is acrobatic, because of cheerleading), and use the same type of gadgets and moves pretty much from the first game. Kim will cartwheel across long jumps, wall jump, and execute handsprings. She can also swing from handy monkey bars and use a grappling hook to swing across long distances. I don’t remember these last two moves from the first game, but they may have been present. Anyway, these two last moves are implemented wonderfully in this game, especially the grappling hook, the rope of which can be made longer or shorter with the directional key pad while swinging. The wall jump move was horribly tricky to execute in the first game, but I didn’t have a chance to see how it fared in this game, because I never got to the third episode where Kim first gets to use it. (More about this later…)

Kim’s moves are mostly straightforward combos of the A and B buttons, but her gadgets are a little more awkward to access, as the R button first has to be pressed, then the directional button used to scroll through the choices. A better way would have been to just use the R button to scroll, too. This can sometimes cause Kim to get hits, while she’s busy choosing the correct gadget to use against an enemy.

The platforming moves are innovative and well-thought out in concept, but the actual gameplay can often be frustrating, due to a few places where Kim has to hit an area exactly within a few pixels to get the desired results, most commonly when swinging from the grappling hook to get close enough to a monkey bar. This happens several times during the levels in Episode 2. Once Kim falls, she has to climb her way back up and attempt the same move again. There are also some instances of blind jumping into enemies or drop-offs, which is never any fun.

There are four episodes, each with multiple levels. After each episode, there is a Rufus level, where players run Rufus as fast as possible through a timed puzzle maze. Basically, Rufus must use buttons to activate ropes, and avoid obstacles. The actual mazes aren’t too difficult, but the rope detection isn’t too hot, and Rufus will often fall instead of landing on the ropes, unless the player immediately hits the Up directional button to begin climbing at the end of the jump.

As stated previously in this review, I have yet to get to the last two episodes. While the gameplay can be difficult in spots, that’s really not the problem. The problem is that the designated save spots are few and far between, and most are only at the beginning of the levels. So, this means after getting Kim up almost to the end of the level, but then running into a tricky spot, the player must succeed at one sitting to finish the level, as there are no saves except at the beginning of the level. After replaying the same level over and over again, most players will tire of the effort, no matter how much fun it all was initially. And as for the kids, it’s rather hard to expect them to have the kind of patience required to finish an entire level at one sitting.

Everything looks great, and the animation is all anyone can ask for on the GBA. All the characters move with fluid motion, and the backgrounds are drawn well. The music is straight from the show, and matches the gameplay. The sound effects could be better, there aren’t many of them.

This is a fun game, with some of the best platforming action I’ve seen in a long time on the GBA. I just wish I could have gotten to the later episodes, as I would have loved to see Kim on rollerblades. The scarcity of save spots hurts the at first exciting gameplay, and eventually boredom may creep in.

For players looking for exciting platform action, this game fits the bill nicely. The gadgets that Kim uses are really fun, and her moves are a hoot to watch. It’s not necessary to be a Kim Possible fan to enjoy this game. However, because of the difficulty of the gameplay in many areas, and the small number of save locations, young players may become discouraged. Best for older, more experienced gamers.

Gameplay: 7.5
While the gameplay in and of itself is well-designed for the most part, and interesting to play, the sheer number of times players may have to traverse the same areas can get tedious. There really should have been more save spots, to avoid this.

Graphics: 8
The game is a treat to see, and the designers did a great job graphically.

Sound: 7
The music is catchy and fits right into the Kim Possible theme style of music, but the sound effects are minimal.

Difficulty:  Hard
Some of the moves are incredibly tricky, as the exact pixel has to be hit for success. Also, the levels have to be finished in one sitting, in order to move on, because of the save locations.

Concept: 8
A2M has really done a fantastic job in taking a handheld game with a TV character, and making it into a fun platforming romp.

Overall: 8
While the platforming gameplay is presented well, and the moves are varied and fun, the difficulty and the lack of save spots can be frustrating. After the umpteenth time swinging across the same ledges, players may get tired of the whole thing. Still, for those who
persevere, the rewards of seeing ever more cool gadgets and moves are a wonderful incentive.