Ratatouille (Rat-a-too-ee) - First Impressions
Movie tie-ins have become something of a cliché in the video games industry, with only one or two notable exceptions, it’s fair to say that the second you see one you know you can expect a rushed development, a general lack of inspiration and an extremely mediocre time.
So loading the recent demo of Ratatouille i wasn’t exactly expecting a world of delight. Then something strange happened, i had fun with it.
The game is (obviously) a spin off from the Disney Pixar movie following the adventures of a gastronomicly advanced rat and the weedy chef he teams up with (i learned this from the trailer, i have to admit I haven’t seen the movie as yet). The demo provides a stage to play through along with a two player mini game. Starting the available stage sees you take control of Remy (the rat), you find yourself in the middle of a market with the task of navigating to various buttons and switches to start fans and conveyor belts. The main idea being that you make your way through the market without being spotted.
It’s a game about timing and reflexes, an out and out platformer which is a genre that we unfortunately don’t see enough good examples of these days. Remy can jump on a ball and roll around, climb up vertical pipes, glide using paper umbrellas and balance on impossible small surfaces. All of these various tricks achieved using the same two button combination, you perform whatever action is appropriate to where you are. There is no doubt that this is aimed at kids, if you can’t work out where to go next pulling the left trigger will see Remy sniff out the best route, with a white trail appearing showing the best route. There only ever really seems to be one route to where you need to be next, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely railed, get the jump across to a meat hook wrong and you will find yourself on the floor of the market, desperately running away from a small child determined to squish you, whilst trying to find your way back to the counter top you were previously on.
There are little mini tasks scattered around the area as well, spot a little green bouncy button and you can start a trampoline race, little touches that although relatively easy, provide a nice little distraction. Speaking of distractions, there are some cute little touches which can easily drag you attention away form the task at hand, crabs running round snapping their claws at you who you can spin your tail at and set spinning around dizzy.
As well as the main stage the demo gives you the chance to try out one of the multi player mini games, this it has to be said is very disappointing. The basic idea is you rat rolls around a little arena on top of a ball squishing the little bugs that are running around, first to 30 wins. The inspiration here seems to quite clearly come form Monkey Ball, however it lacks the charm and quirkiness that comes with that series.
It’s fair to say that this isn’t likely to win any awards for being game of the year, but after having recently played through the painful experience that was Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix, this was a rather pleasant breath of fresh air. Would i spend £40 on this, well no, but then i don’t have kids. If you’re looking for something you can play with the little ones, that might just raise a smile for you as well, then you could probably do worse.
Posted by Mr-J - August 23rd, 2007 -