
	Platform Xbox Genre Action Publisher THQ Developer Heavy Iron Studios ESRB T (Teen) Released November 2004

- Some great clips from the movie - Essentially follows the movie from start to finish - Generally good platforming

- Camera troubles - Lots of instant death

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The Incredibles

Score: 7.0 / 10

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

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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

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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 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.

- Omni
(December 23, 2004)