Curious George
SCORE: 92
I remember Curious George very fondly from my childhood days of
learning how to read. Well earlier in this year (2006) a cartoon movie
was done based on Curious George. To my pleasant surprise Namco
published a video game based on the movie. Family Friendly Gaming has
already reviewed the Gameboy Advance version, and now we are getting
around to the home console version (on the Playstation 2, Gamecube, and
Xbox). The video game is mainly a platformer where the curious little
monkey has to avoid trouble, and help the man in the yellow hat (of
course).
Graphically Curious George is very bright and colorful, even the
jungle levels. There are good details in the levels, and the cartoon
style makes the books come alive in a 3D world. Wholesome images are
also used properly in this game. Fans of the books will find this to be
very nice to look at indeed. The game has quite a few graphics that are
rather humorous as the little monkey explores his environment (which the
game encourages).
The sounds in Curious George are very crisp, and clear. The sounds
work well in this game, especially the voices that assist the player in
how to play the game. The music is very cheerful, and themed quite
appropriately for each of the levels. The monkey noises that little
Curious George make are quite humorous at certain occasions. Other times
the little monkey’s confusion is quite apparent.
Curious George gives quite a few levels for the player to play. Like
most platformers this game has quite a few things to collect. Can you
guess the main item to collect in this game? If you guessed bananas then
you were right on base. Only one player may play at a time, but the game
allows for multiple saves. After beating mini games they may be played
again at the players leisure. Levels can also be replayed in order to
collect everything. In this reviewers humble opinion this game is worth
its price tag.
Curious George controls quite well with one learning curve. The
double jump that the little monkey performs can take a few tries to get
it exactly right. Once the player has it down though, there are no more
problems that this reviewer found with the controls whatsoever. The
level designs work quite well, and usually there is only one real way to
complete a certain task. There are times of exploration where the player
must find the right way to get to say a vent. They are not difficult,
usually just require a little looking around. I found this to be a fun
little game to play. In my humble estimations, a child of seven to eight
would be a good start age to this game.
There are quite a few things that hit me after playing Curious
George. One of them is how there was no violence in this game. There was
no death, there was no exploitation of women, and no lessons teaching
destruction. The worst thing in this game is the man in the yellow hat
hiding George from those who would get mad about a monkey being in his
apartment. Which really the man had no way of controlling. The player is
never required to actively defy authority, just to hide from it. George
does create a lot of chaos, and all of it is accidental. Playful
mischief best describes Curious George. I would recommend this to my
pastor, and let my kids play it.
- Paul
Graphics: 92%
Sound: 91%
Replay/Extras: 93%
Gameplay: 94%
Family Friendly Factor: 89%
System:
Gamecube/PS2/Xbox
Publisher: Namco
ESRB Rating: 'E' for Everyone
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