A good movie made into a game. Is the game any good?

At this point it has become clear that regardless of whether or not a film is a high-profile film, it will be released with a companion video game. Is this a good thing? That is a hard question to answer. More often than not movie based games end up being just flat out bad, with only a few rare exceptions such as EA’s Lord of the Ring’s and James Bond games. This is a rather sad fact since so many movies could be really great games, and in some cases, the property might even make a better game then it did a movie. With all that being said, where does the game Zathura lie? Read on to find out the answer to the age old question: Can a game based on a children’s film actually be good? Is Zathura that game?

Features

15 levels to explore

Play as Walter, Danny, and their Robot

Unlock extra content from the film

Story
Based on the recently released Jon Favreau film, based on the popular children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, author of Jumanji and The Polar Express, players will embark on an adventure that will send them to the depths of space. The adventure begins when Danny, the younger of the two brothers who embark on this adventure, finds the mysterious Zathura board game in their basement. Upon starting the game the two young brothers, Walter and Danny, and their house are thrust into outer space. The boys must now work together and players must utilize each character’s unique strengths, to survive the challenges Zathura throws at them. Sound familiar? If you seen the film Jumanji then you basically know what to expect. The kids begin to play the board game and all hell breaks loose as they find their home floating in space and they must work together to return home and set things right. Fortunately, unlike Jumanji, this game is out-of-control Robin Williams free, so that is plus.

Gameplay
Zathura is essentially a very run-of-the-mill platformer that adds nothing to the genre. Throughout the game players will take control of the two brothers, Danny and Walter, or their Robot. Players do not have a choice of which character they want to control, but will be given control of a character as the story dictates. Each of the characters has its own set of abilities, from Walters projectile throwing and his large wrench for clubbing enemies into submission, to Danny’s upgradeable slingshot and punch/pick moves. The Robot is by far the most enjoyable character to control due to his more impressive moves. The Robot features an upgradeable laser cannon and a powerful punching move. He also has the ability to jet across areas for a brief amount of time. Controlling the robot is very reminiscent of controlling Dr. Eggman and Tails in Sonic Adventure 2, at least to me. While his moves are not that different from the boys, he is just overall a more interesting and enjoyable character and you will find yourself relieved when his missions come up.

While the characters have a great set of moves and some upgradeable weapons, they are really overshadowed by the horribly dull levels you will utilize them in. While each character will be presented with a mission at the beginning of each stage, the stage designs are so plain that there really isn’t any difference between them, making the fact you take control of three different characters rather pointless. No matter what character you play as the goal is essentially the same: run, shoot, jump and repeat. After the first hour of play this fact becomes clear and the game quickly spirals into boredom.

To make matters worse, the levels are filled with enemies that are controlled by what has to be one of the worst A.I. routines created. Enemies, whether they be basic drones or bosses, are just dumb. I realize it is a tricky matter to balance difficulty in a game aimed at a younger audience, but even a child will find the enemy’s ridiculously easy and dumb. Players will often encounter groups of enemies that they can just run past never getting hit instead of actually fighting them. In some cases enemies will even save you the effort of killing them by killing themselves by running off ledges or falling into holes. The A.I. is a huge mess and only aids in making sure that no one of any age will find any real enjoyment in the game. The only thing the A.I. does do well is provide easy targets for you to test out the decent weapons the characters are equipped with.

Graphics
Zathura is one great looking game, or at least that is what I would be saying if this was a first-generation title. Come to think of it, it likely would not be much of a stretch to say Zathura comes off looking like a mediocre Dreamcast title or a late last-generation game running in a higher resolution. When will developers realize that just because a game is aimed at a younger audience, it does not mean that it has to look like a child designed it?

Environments are generally dull and barren, lacking any sort of detail and covered with incredibly bland texture work. The stages are very simple in design, never giving the player any additional areas to explore. Stages are designed to push you on a very linear path from point “A” to “B,” without ever really allowing you to stray from the path, let alone want to. Since the environments are so dull and empty it is not a surprise that the framerate is generally smooth and stays consistent.

Not to be outdone by the environments, character models also lack detail and come off rather dull and boring. On the plus side, at least the characters blend into the environments well since they are about as exciting as them. From Walter and Danny to the many enemies that fill the environments, they all come off cartoonish, boring, and void of any real attention to detail and design. The Robot is by far the most pleasing character to look at, sporting a style reminiscent of the robots from Iron Giant, Sky Captain or any other 30s to 50s based sci-fi robot film.

To top of the visual package, Zathura also features a very problematic camera system. While the player does have control of the camera, it will often swing itself into odd angles that prevent you from seeing what you are trying to look at without having to readjust it. This problem also often occurs when entering new areas blocked by doors. As the doors open the camera will swing back and down behind the players character, preventing you from seeing what is ahead and causing you to take unnecessary damage. The one word that best describes the camera: broken.

Sound
As is the case with many games based on films, the music is actually a strong point in the game. The music is often enjoyable to listen to and adds greatly to the action and story moments. The voice work is also strong, but only for the children, Walter and Danny. The boys from the film actually voiced their characters and it shows. The rest of the voice work is rather mediocre but gets the job done. Where the games audio really falters is in the sound effects department. There is a total lack of sound effect variety and what is there is rather mediocre to bad.

Closing
This brings us back to the questions proposed at the beginning of this review. Can a game based on a children’s film actually be good? And, is Zathura that game? Well, it’s becoming harder to believe a game based on a children’s film can be good. Game failure after failure has been forced on the gaming public. Zathura unfortunately adds to the ever growing list of bad games based on children’s films. This is rather sad because I believe given time, a decent budget, and a talented development team, the story of Zathura could make a good game. As it stands though, you are better off sticking with the movie and if you need a game based on a children’s film, look elsewhere.