Speaking of doing the jobs, the visuals do an admirable job of pleasing the eyes. From what I’ve seen of the cinematics and movie trailers, the graphics are very faithful to their cinematic counterparts. Each of the environments is finely rendered and feature all the small details that go into making a visually pleasing package. I really enjoyed the character models as they retained a cartoon-ish style to them while managing to appear lifelike. Animations are well done, as you’ll hardly notice any awkward movements or jitters among the characters. Overall I enjoyed what the visuals had to offer and I’m certain that you and your children will as well.
The audio effects fit the bill quite nicely and don’t really stand out too much, which is a good thing. I was very impressed by the voice acting as I checked the back of the manual and my initial thoughts were confirmed, the developers of the game had managed to acquire the cast of the film to reprise their roles in the game. That means that you’ll hear Martin Short and David Hyde Pierce deliver their lines with the same precision that they do on-screen. The rest of the sound effects are just standard fare but that’s not really a knock on the game. When I play a 3D platformer all I’m hoping for is a soundtrack that doesn’t include some particularly annoying noises and it is in this respect that
TP succeeds. Support for
Dolby Pro Logic II is included although I was not able to test this feature at the time.
There are a few problems with the camera though but that’s often expected from games of this genre. Although the camera can be moved and rotated to the player’s liking I found that I had to babysit it far too often. I eventually learned to steer my character left and right with the right analog stick as opposed to the left analog stick, the camera just couldn’t keep up with what was going on. Oddly enough the camera managed to keep up quite fine in the fast-paced hover-boarding sequences.
In addition to the game itself you’ll be able to check out some nice DVD extras that will no doubt be a nice addition to any collector’s library. Among them is a music video by Johnny Rzeznik (of the Goo Goo Dolls), some behind the scenes footage as well concept art for many of the game’s more interesting objects. Overall I found them to be nice additions that really add more value to the game.
There’s no denying it,
Treasure Planet is one of the best children-oriented games that I’ve played in years. So much time and effort was put into the game to assure that it would avoid the trap that has befallen games like
Stitch 626 and it shows. The production values are astronomical and the entertainment value is far better than expected. Pick this one up for your kids this holiday season and if you’re not careful, you just might find yourself opening this present a tad bit earlier than the rest.
C+
Much more than expected, Treasure Planet is a pretty worthy pickup for those who are looking for a game that is simple and fun to play.
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