As
far as movie-to-game translations, The Incredibles is a solid game.The action moves from the movie’s opening to the dramatic
brawling conclusion with the Omnidroid, and interspersed with clips from
the film and a few original scenarios to battle through.But, judged solely on as a platformer/action game, The
Incredibles stumbles a bit with an occasionally aggravating camera and a
few too many instant death situations.
You
begin the game playing as Mr. Incredible but you’ll also play as
Elasti-girl, Dash, Violet, and even Frozone in their own
character-specific levels.Although
they all have different powers and special abilities they control much
the same so jarring learning curves aren’t a problem.
Unless
you’ve seen the film, you will experience some slightly jarring story
elements though.Seeing the
movie might not be required viewing before playing the game but it can
only help.
Most
levels don’t sway too far from “beat up the bad guys, crush a boss,
move onto the next stage” progression, but once in a while you’ll
get some variety like maneuvering Dash through traffic in an attempt to
reach school on time.There
is plenty of instant death to contend with too, like falling off
buildings, into flames, etc. Maybe I’ve gone soft since the days of
the original Castlevania or (the
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homicide-inducing)
Amagon but
I think instant death is cheap, particularly in a superhero game.There are environmental puzzles to contend wit but
there’s nothing too taxing – mostly it’s smashing power panels or
heaving objects at a particular target.
The
developers at Heavy Iron Studios did a great job bringing the cartoon to
videogame form.The
graphics are big and bright with plenty of locations seen in the film
replicated in a pleasing way and some very pleasing character animation.It’s unfortunate that the camera doesn’t always do a good job
adjusting to give you the best view of the action.Instead you have to manually rotate the camera with the right
stick so you don’t inadvertently take a wrong step or get blasted by
an enemy just off-screen.This
isn’t as much of a problem in the outdoor areas but in a few of the
indoor areas you’ll actually feel blind because the camera can’t
be rotated making your character an easy target.
That
said, The Incredibles is an overall average enjoyable experience – a
little more enjoyable if you enjoyed the film and are in the pre-teen
demographic.