Curious George Review (no fat)

Game Description

For several years, it's been a tradition for animation films to have a video game released as well. Many of them are, to be frank, mediocre, much worse than the film (and we can only guess what happens when the film itself is bad...) but there have been some exceptions too. Just remember Madagascar (the game), which was not bad at all, and the movie was excellent, too. What we now have is an incarnation of Curious George in a video game. Unlike most other movie-licensed games, Curios George (the game) is released before the film… a promotional decision which has some impact on the gameplay itself, as we will see.

Curious George – The Adventure

The story starts with Ted, The Man in the Yellow Hat who goes to Africa, looking for a mysterious idol for his museum. He does run into something that looks like the idol, but, instead, he finds nothing but a replica. What he also finds is a monkey, which follows him to America when he returns, depressed and broken. Ted tries to keep his little friend secret, but George is just too curious for that, and this leads him to all sorts of trouble.

There are 13 levels of George and trouble (especially trouble) for you to go through. The levels are interrupted by four mini-games, which are interesting, but could have been more diverse. All four mini-games are based on hitting the right button at the right time, for various reasons (like dancing to entertain some spectators or capturing a firefly). The idea itself is nice, but you will probably beg for some more entertainment.

The levels are very well designed from an artistic point of view, with excellent environment and a camera that doesn't disturb you. Judging from the latest jump'n'runs, it seems to be hard to make a camera that doesn't spin, float, jump, bounce, tumble, roll, rock'n'roll and God knows what else. Curious George got it right, and this is a big plus. The game does a wonderful job in giving its levels an excellent presentation through the camera, finding the most interesting (and, at the same time, usable) camera angle.

Unpolished, yet, Curious George

Judging from what I have just said, Curious George should be wonderful. And, frankly, it's not a bad game, but, like (too many) other games, it lacks some finishing touches.

The most annoying part of it is the fact that collision detection is not quite right. George will often find that the air is much denser than he thought. So dense that he actually bumps into air, and going through places with lots of small objects will prove to be one of the big challenges of this game. This is quite unfortunate, because the controls are very easy to master and very responsive.

Another problem Curious George has is that the levels, while having an excellent environment and beautifully drawn, are a bit too linear. There's simply not enough exploration involved, not enough thrill. This can be excused by the fact that the game is aimed at the children. Still, there is not enough to justify the price tag. The art team did a great job, which the level designers could have exploited much more.

There are still some good points left about the levels. First of all, in some places, the linear jumping and running is interrupted by more interesting parts, like guiding George around while he floats using a bunch of balloons. Even though these could have been polished too, they're welcome.

Another positive are the Curiosity points. You can interact with various objects in the game, like a TV set, and get some points for that. When you get enough points, you will be able to "buy" some crazy hats or a new mini game. This does save some of the boredom you get from linear and easy levels.

Curious George Creative Impression

All around the game, you will find it rather obvious that the title was merely meant to create hype and the game is a secondary objective. The story reader in you will be a bit surprised by the plot. While Curious George follows the plot in the film, justifiably, the developers tried not to reveal too much…a feat that is hard to accomplish. Consequently, the game looks more like a trailer of the movie instead of an entity in itself.

To add to that, the title seems rushed. The main menu has small fonts, small and still pictures… all without much appeal to the kids with a bit of fantasy.

However, the in-game graphics are worth a note. Although they are not necessarily top-notch or revolutionary, they are dominated by a touch of good-taste. The same common-sense is found in the audio side of the game, where you won't hear the movie stars, but you won't even notice that they are actually the voices of sound-alike actors.

Curious George Price

At the time of writing, various stores retail Curious George for prices ranging from 34.99$ to 39.99$ at the time of writing.