Ratatouille
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: THQ Developer: Heavy Iron Studios Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Platformer (3D)
Graphics & Sound: My first response to Ratatouille was that it would make a great cooking game similar to Cooking Mama, one of the more original games to grace the Wii since release. What I got was just another platformer that is entertaining, but far from original. Ratatouille is a pretty game and manages to capture the style and personality of the movie rather well. Remy looks good and moves even better. Although the level design is varied and generally pretty good, it suffers from blurry textures and other little things. While I could easily write these off as being due to the system's hardware limitations, the Wii is capable of much more. These flaws are offset by better than usual special effects, such as bloom lighting, excellent particle effects and a neat motion blur that kicks in while running. Animation is generally good as well. The standard animations are fluid, but the best parts are the extra ones, like Remy coming to a sliding, skidding halt after running. I still haven't seen the movie, so I'm not sure if the same actors from the movie reprise their roles in the game (to be honest, I couldn't tell you who is doing the voices in the movie). Whether the original actors do the voices or not, it is handled really well and entertaining - so either way it works. Music keeps with the mood of the game and mixes fun music with a bit of French flair.
Gameplay: Remy has a problem; his life dream is to become a gourmet French chef, preparing dishes for customers as head chef at a fancy restaurant. Fried, fricassee, baked... he can do it all. The problem is that Remy is a rat, which is something that most health inspectors might frown upon. Things change for Remy when he one day helps a bumbling busboy create a great soup, instantly rocketing him up the ladder of success. The two pair up and form a partnership with Remy as the talent behind the outfit. Ratatouille is the same straightforward, no-frills platformer that 90% of licensed games end up becoming. There isn't much to the game; you enter a level, jump on platforms and enemies and slide though pipes. Really, there is nothing here we haven't seen before, but what is here is fun - if a bit generic. This is due in large part to level design, which is varied and makes good use of the available mechanics. Mission objectives are varied and though they rarely stray from the typical, they are paced well enough that it avoids becoming mundane. In one level you may be collecting ingredients, while in another you rescue friends from mouse traps. There is also a fair amount of pipe-sliding and rafting areas. While the single-player experience leaves much to be desired, the mini-games are more in line with what I originally hoped for. Though there are a few generic game types, many of the games were designed specifically for the Wii. In one game, you select ingredients for a soup while in another, you dice and peel vegetables. One even has you tilting a frying pan. Better yet, mini-games feature multiplayer capabilities, which help to make them better than the main game. The only downside is that you have to purchase mini-games, so you may have to play through the game more than once to unlock them all.
Difficulty: The game is incredibly forgiving when it comes to dying, so even if you do slip and fall, you never have to completely restart a level or the game. Level designs can get complex, though Remy's smell ability acts as a guide arrow, so it is hard to get lost in a level. You can also access an in-game help guide that will tell you exactly what you have to do if you can't figure it out. Level difficulty wavers between easy and hard. Most of the levels are really easy, though there are a few tough ones. An easier difficulty level is to be expected for a game largely aimed at younger audiences, though the harder areas may have these same players asking for help. Thankfully they aren't so numerous that they will want to quit, but parents should expect to hear one or two frustrated screams over the course of the game. Most of the problems I encountered are typical of platform games. Sometimes Remy would slip off a platform and fall, while at others he wouldn't respond to certain actions - usually the Rat-a-pault.
Game Mechanics: Except for the mini-games, Ratatouille doesn't use the Wii-mote in any new ways, though like the games' levels, it does a good job with what it has. The Nunchuk handles movement while pressing (A) on the Wii-mote makes Remy jump. The (B) button acts as a context-sensitive control, allowing you to pick up cans or latch onto climbable objects. The motion-sensing controls are used in variety of ways, though they feel like they were tacked on at the last minute. Remy's tail swipe attack, or spoon swipe if he is holding one, is performed by flicking the Wii-mote. During rafting levels, shaking the Wii-mote makes Remy paddle a little faster, though this is only useful when you hit whirlpools - and even then you can sometimes just steer around them or push your way out by leaning on the analog stick. A pointer function is also built into the game, though I can't recall using it for anything other than a few between mission mini-games. For a platformer fan who isn't really picky about licenses or originality, Ratatouille is an okay game. Very little about the game stands out, though the level design is well-done and makes for a fun game.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition Time Ace