Be curious once again with an old pal!

(Note: Curious George has been designed for a younger audience and as such this review has been assessed with a child’s perspective in mind)

Curiosity may of have killed the cat, but when it comes to monkeys, curiosity has always been a good thing. As children the majority of us learned this through the beloved children’s book series Curious George, which is about a monkey with an unending curiosity and charm. While George’s curiosity would sometimes get him in trouble he would always managed to set things right until his next adventure. After decades of entertaining children around the world through books and an animated television series, George’s curiosity has finally led him to the big screen and to video game consoles. While his big screen adventure has turned out to be a successful adaptation, the question still remains as to whether or not his adventures in the video game world will share in this success? Let your curiosity get the best of you and read on to find out.

Features

• 12 adventure-packed levels


• Play as Curious George


• Follows the story of the new film


• FMV’s from the film help tell the story


• Unlock bonus content and mini-games


• Investigate curious objects


• Available for Xbox, GameCube and PS2

Story
Since the game is based on the film Curious George, it should come as no surprise that the game closely follows the plot of the film and not the books. Fans of the books should not be discouraged by this however, as the film does incorporate many of the elements from the classic stories. The plot behind the film and the game takes the Man in the Yellow Hat, now given the name Ted, to jungles of Africa in search of the ancient monkey idol. After finding only a miniature of the idol he so desperately needs in order to save his job at the museum back in the big city, the mischievous little monkey George discovers Ted. Disappointed in the failure of his African expedition, Ted returns home to the city uncertain of what the future will hold for him. Upon returning home Ted discovers that the monkey from the jungle has managed to follow him. Reunited in the big city, Ted and the monkey, now given the name George by a group of school children, set out on new adventures together. As to what these adventures are you will have to play the game and see the film to find out, but rest assured they are as fun as what was presented in the original books.

Gameplay
Curious George will place players in 13 stages of standard platforming gameplay with a just enough added variety to keep them entertained and encouraged to continue forward. Gamers will jump from platform to platform, swing from vines, tree surf on branches, avoid traps, solve puzzles, and more as they navigate through the African jungles, ships, and various locations in the American big city. Some levels offer a bit of a diversion from the platforming by presenting players with Frogger-like stages in which they must have George jump from one moving object to another requiring the player to time their jumps perfectly to pass the obstacle. Flying, stealth, and Lilly pad sailing levels also add greatly to the mix. There is nothing new or different that Curious George offers over other platformer games, but what it does offer is a very well designed experience that should please its target audience.

For good measure and to spice up the overall gameplay experience, Monkey Bar Games incorporates a handful of mini-games which gamers will be sure to enjoy. From simple games of catching a set number of fireflies in a set amount of time to Donkey Konga and Dance Dance Revolution inspired music based quick button response games, the mini-games are all enjoyable and let players do more with George.

The controls and camera system implemented in Curious George are extremely user friendly and should be able to be handled by even the youngest of players. Controls are straight forward, responsive, and are never complicated. The camera system is especially well done for a younger audience game. Players are almost always provided with the best camera angels for what they need to get accomplished allowing the player to almost never have to worry about readjusting the camera. One of the highlights of the system is that should a player not be sure where they need to go next, by simply staying in one place the camera will reorient itself pointing the player in the right direction. While some may write off such a feature as handholding and making the game too easy, it is after all designed for younger gamers and therefore such is a welcome addition.


One of the greatest aspects in Curious George’s gameplay revolves around what George does best: being curious. Throughout the stages players will discover a large variety of objects they can interact with. These objects are fittingly called Curious Objects and are usually highlighted by a sparkling effect and a question mark that will appear over George’s head when he is near an object. Upon investing an object George will earn Curious Points. Every stage has a set number of Curious Points and players are encouraged to find every Curious Object for George to interact with in order to earn them. The points allow you to unlock bonus content. Once players collect enough Curious Points they may use the points in the Gift Shop, located on the main menu, to purchase a variety of bonus content. Purchasable items include the mini-games featured in the main quest, outfits, production art from the film, and the ability to re-watch the FMV sequences taken from the film. All of the bonus content is a welcome addition to the game and adds greatly to replay value of the game.

Graphics
The graphics featured in Curious George are one of the high points of the game. Monkey Bar Games has done a superb job in faithfully recreating the look of the film and the classic books. Using the popular cel-shading technique George and his world look as colorful and lush as one would expect. The animations George exhibits are silky smooth and help him to convey his emotional responses during cut-scenes and when discovering curious objects. Another graphical highlight for George is when users steer him into a crawl space and the view changes to a first person perspective. As George crawls his way forward users will see realistically animated representations of his hands and arms as he pulls himself forward. Other characters in the game are also well animated but some of the more minor characters are a bit low in polygon counts resulting in them coming off a bit angular. This is especially noticeable when compared to other characters like George who are rounder and more fleshed out.

The environments which George will be exploring are not as impressive as George himself. These environments while bright and colorful do come off rather sparse and bland at times. This is not to say all of the environments are this way as some such as the museum and the jungle are more impressive than others. In fact the final level in the game places George back in the jungle as he climbs a beautifully designed waterfall featuring impressive water effects and mist surrounded by lush jungle surroundings. Other environments in the game could have benefited from this level of attention to detail. To Monkey Bar Games defense, they did do an impressive job recreating the look in the film as it features about the same level of detail in its environmental designs. Powered by Vicious Cycle Software/Monkey Bar Games Vicious Engine, Curious George overall provides a rich visual experience without the interference of long load times and an inconsistent framerate to distract players from the action at hand.

Graphically, the Xbox and GameCube versions of the game are nearly identical. The only true difference comes in the way of GameCubes colors appearing more saturated and Xbox featuring a few minor graphical effect differences. Either way both builds of the game look great and feature the same content.

Sound
Just as the graphics area is a high point in the game, so to is the audio. The score is always fitting to the action on hand, be it African inspired jungle music as you navigate through the jungle or opera as George explores Ted’s big city apartment. For the most part the music is enjoyable to listen to and will please gamers young and old, but it is mostly forgettable. While on the topic of music, the lack of any of Jack Johnson’s music from the film is a bit of a disappointment. Even if just the inclusion of one song for the main menu or credits would have been a welcome addition since his music was a big part of the film.

The voice work featured in the game has also been well done. While the game does not feature the voice talents from the film, such as Will Farrell and Drew Barrymore, it does feature impressively close sound-a-likes. George’s “voice” work is also equally well done and children will enjoy listening to the sounds he makes as he explores his surroundings. The only drawbacks in the voice work come into the overuse of some of George’s voice samples and the occasional noticeable difference in voice work when the game transitions from in-game action or in-game cut-scenes to FMV’s taken directly from the film. All and all the game does feature rather solid audio work with only a few drawbacks.

Closing
Curious George manages to strike at the mischief in children of all ages. It successfully pulls off what many children’s games, especially those based on animated movies, fail to. With lush visuals, varied gameplay, and fun filled action, Curious George delivers a solid gaming package to fans of the series and parents looking for a quality game to purchase their curious kids.