Chicken Little the movie is a computer animated triumph with engaging
characters, hilarious moments and sophisticated, satirical concepts
that appeal on different
levels to both children and adults.
Chicken Little the game
lays a big, fat grade C egg. It is an uninspired mishmash of mini-games,
scenes that assume you have a familiarity
with the movie and sloppy programming. Now I will admit upfront that
I am not the sought after demographic for this game, but still I’ve
never yet been accused of acting my age.
The beginning of the movie
sets the tone with an inspired retelling of the Chicken Little
legend. At the beginning of the game we watch
as Chicken Little is scoffed at and ridiculed as he attempts to reach
his school. But it is never made clear exactly why Chicken Little
is made to suffer so. Instead, it is as though the developers automatically
assume that the gamer has already either seen the movie or is familiar
with the story (yes, I know that the Chicken Little ‘mythos’ would
seem to be common knowledge, but c’mon, lay the groundwork
for the rest of the game!).
What follows upon reaching the schoolyards, are eighteen levels
of gameplay, each of which will be familiar to anyone who has played
any amount of console games. There is not a whit of originality as
it seems each level exists only to follow the progression of the
film and open another movie clip. Instead of the game establishing
its own identity, I too often found myself comparing a level to Sonic
the Hedgehog or Psychonauts or any number of other, better games.
Totally fowl though is
poor programming that drains the game’s
minimal enjoyment. Some areas – such as Backyard Pursuit – are
too dark and have poor camera angles that cannot be corrected and
turn already difficult jumps into blind luck. Most unforgivable of
all though is shoddy programming that allows your character to fall
from high ledges, building tops, etc. if you make one wrong step
and thus necessitate restarting from a checkpoint – how 1990’s.
What is supposed to be light-hearted fun is instead feather-plucking
frustration.
Maybe I’m being a little too harsh, after all the game was
probably meant to do nothing more than ride the coattails of the
movie’s success. But the days of insipid movie games have passed
and even younger gamers expect better. This is one piece of poultry
that deserves a visit from the Colonel.
Chicken Little the movie is a computer animated triumph with engaging
The beginning of the movie
What follows upon reaching the schoolyards, are eighteen levels
Totally fowl though is