UP
Ages: Everyone 10+

A game based on a sensitive movie, and mostly designed for children, started off with an aerial dogfight that required the player to first shoot down planes before even starting the game. What were they thinking? It's not a shooting game by any means, so why require a kid to win a dogfight before being allowed to play the game?

It's a game made from a movie. There is a charm to the movie that is stretched in the game. Old Carl Fredrickesen, armed with his trusty cane, hearing aid and crotchety voice (Ed Asner) can carry the game only so far. It's a fancy platformer - walking, jumping and rock pushing, interspersed with warding off wasps and bats with Carl's squealing hearing aid or Russell's bugle. While the Z button can switch between the characters, in this game it is almost a necessity to have two players. A parent and a child is an obvious choice.

In the game the two characters are tethered to the off-screen house giving them the appearance of underwater divers. The ropes are useful when, by wiggling the remote, one character can haul up the other. They travel through a jungle environment - heavy foliage, dark caves and rushing rivers to find Paradise Falls. In the meantime, acquiring Dug the dog and Kermit, a prehistoric bird - both lend their special skills to the explorers.

I do appreciate THQ's attempts at keeping violence to a minimum and eliminating weapon upgrades but eventually it all becomes repetitious and predictable. Maybe that's why they decided to bring in the dogfights.

Fun Factor: Some clever bits but too repetitive and predictable
Female Factor: Zero
Player Friendly: Dogfight introduction could discourage gamers

Reviewed by: Editor - 06/09