OrdannonsX's reviews: A Bug's LifeDisney Pixar' A Bug's Life; a childhood favourite movie of mine. I actually had so much love for this movie as a child that I could tell the entire script from the top of my head. And I'm sure that if I would watch the movie now, I would actually still enjoy it! Ah, nostalgia... Some things just never get old. Not much later, Traveller's Tales followed up with a platformer video game. And let me just tell you, it did NOTwithstand the test of time! But it's undoubtedly one of the better movie-to-videogame adaptations.
Graphics
The graphics, while at first glance may not look that appealing, are very colourful. Before every level you watch a scene that's taken straight from the movie. All in all, they don't quite look as good in the game than when you're watching the movie on let's say, a Blu-Ray player (lol) but still, it is quite impressive how they managed to still being able to render those scenes so pretty in the game. And to top it off, I even noticed that when the characters speak, their lips even move with the words being said! That's innovative, I don't remember many games from that time having lip-sync. Very nice. Okay actually, there are a lot of games that did that, but I actually managed to notice this as a six year old so I just HAD to mention the lip-sync. You may need to get over the way the in-game visuals look, but when you compare all the graphics, I'd say I'm satisfied.
Sound
The sound is… difficult to describe. I’m diggin’ most of the game’s music, such as the theme that plays in Riverbed Run level. This game has a pretty epic soundtrack that rarely anyone ever mentions. The music ranges from mellow panpipe tunes to upbeat tin whistle tunes to epic orchestras. But apart from the level music that is far more mentionable than it is, there’s the SFX that sounds weird in some departments. The sound effects often clip or just disappear for the entire level. That gets annoying. When I butt stomp an enemy, I WANT to hear him splatter, gosh-darnit! Luckily, this is a rare occasion, this won’t happen often at all. Also, Flik constantly bellows out the same things throughout the entire level. Personally, I don’t mind it a lot. But I understand how that might turn irritating for some people. So, the sound isn’t perfect. But the soundtrack… OH, MAN, the soundtrack…
Addictiveness
This is where the game truly shines, in my opinion. Most of it has to do with the gameplay, but I’ll get to that in the Depth paragraph. Like I said in the Sound paragraph, the soundtrack is so diverse and enjoyable that you might just replay a level just to enjoy the music. There’s also this thing I used to do as a kid with a fan plant, where you picked up the seed and walked off a steep hill. The fan plant picks you up and takes you for a ride. Fun times!
Story
Not much thought went into the plot from Traveller’s Tales, as this game just follows the movie. But that doesn’t make the original plot less original. An ant colony lost her supply of grain for a gang of evil grasshoppers, who get an ultimatum where they have to have next supply ready for them. Flik gets sent out to get warrior bugs to protect the colony, but returns with a bunch of circus clowns. I loved the movie as a kid, and I still do.
Depth
This is where the game takes a downward leap. The gameplay is quite original and innovative. In order to reach the end of each stage, you have to use seeds to create bouncy mushrooms, climbable plants, dandelions that take you for a flight, etc etc. Completing each level a 100% takes a great deal of thought and creativity. The basics for a 3D platformer is there; there are collectibles scattered around for you to find, and there are hidden secrets for you to unlock. But here’s the flipside of the coin; the hidden secrets in this game are HIDDEN SECRETS. Seriously, Traveller’s Tale took the term ‘hidden secrets’ to a whole new level. I’ll just spoil one secret for you, because this
one’s just ridiculous: You need to line up five bouncy mushrooms, and bounce on them from one to the other without falling on the ground. Who would ever think of that? Alright, nowadays there’s internet, but someone who doesn’t use internet for their gaming purposes would never even think about doing this! It gets you to a fun bonus stage, so try it out. I just saved you a ton of thinking. ;) What I personally also don’t like about the game is that there doesn’t have to be backtracking involved. If you play the stages well, you can beat them 100% in one playthrough. So, innovative as the gameplay may be, the depth receives a low score from me.
Difficulty
I never passed the tenth level as a child. It’s quite tough-as-nails for a children’s game. I recently got this game again for my PSX collection, and I got through the chase by Hopper, the leader of the grasshoppers, and man… it was difficult. That particular level has you flying through a maze, and it requires you to think in a split second which turn you are going to take. This is also one of those levels that has collectibles in them and bad guys to kill, so I don’t think I’m going to bother trying to beat this level a 100%. Come to think of it, if this is so difficult for me now, I don’t understand how I came so far over ten years ago? Was I that good as a kid, or am I just horrible now? I’ll try not to think of it that much.
All in all, this game isn’t perfect, but I still like it. Colourful visuals, diverse music, innovative gameplay… You might want to try this game out.
Pros:
- Music is awesome
- There’s some challenge to it
- Quite a lot of stuff to fool around with
Cons:
- Sound effects are buggy sometimes
- The game has more depth than most will ever discover, due to the ridiculous stuff you have to do
Graphics
7 Sound
7 Addictive
8 Depth
4 Story
7 Difficulty
7
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