Garfield Gets Real
Ages: Everyone

This is game made from a direct-to-video movie, and the game takes on a couple of themes from the movie - the hotel fire and the rift between cartoon and real life. Mostly it involves dodging obstacles of one kind or another, catching things, dancing, posing and eating.

Garfield's day begins with him trying to go back to bed by placing books high enough close the blinds against the streaming sun. That 's Garfield!

Next stop, the kitchen, where Garfield has to grab the food thrown to him and avoid the dishes. Not enough food and he fall asleep. That's Garfield!

The playground is the next stop and Garfield has to avoid hazard such as swings. Timing is important. There is no back control so just pace yourself. No food on this level.

At points in the game, the action stops and Garfield will be expected to perform dance moves - match the moves shown and you get extra points.

Here the game is closer to the video. A rift between the cartoon world and the real world puts Garfield in the park next to a hotdog seller. What an opportunity to scarf hotdogs. That's Garfield! Finally the hotdog seller runs away dropping bottles and hotdogs. Collect hotdogs for extra points.

The real world isn't so great for Garfield - he wanders the alley searching for food and ends up performing on a fence dodging the boots thrown at him and grabbing whatever food he can.

Next, Garfield has to prove that he is the real Garfield by auditioning. More dance moves.

The game ends with the hotel fire where Garfield has to go through burning floors and obstacles to rescue Odie who has gone back to the hotel to find his bone. Which proves that cats, even Garfield, are smarter than dogs.

Throughout the game, a spotlight comes on and Garfield has to perform a series of dance moves. Matching the on-screen prompts results in more points.

The game controls are awkward and frustrating, sometimes using the x-pad and sometimes striking lines on the touch-screen, making it easy to overshoot, miss or fail the seemingly easy tasks, resulting in being set back to the beginning of the level. The game can be more easily played if you avoid going for the extra points.

The Garfield franchise has been around since 1978. He is fat, lazy and has an attitude - not a poster boy for our time but maybe that's why he still has enough fans to make a game.

Fun Factor: Nothing unusual. Only fun for the Garfield fans.
Player Friendly: Awkward use of touch screen.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/09