| Introduction
20th Century Fox Animation Studios almost went bankrupt
in recent years with among others the $100 million flop
Titan AE. Ice Age then was a much needed hit and raked
in almost all of its initial $35 million layout in the
first weekend alone. Produced by Blue Sky Studios the
movie has firmly followed in the footsteps of PIXAR's
Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and is completely computer
generated. We've been disappointed on many occasions
with the big screen animation/game conversion but according
to the press blurb Ice Age offers something different.
GamePlay
In the game you play Manny the Mammoth and Sid the
Sloth who are, like in the movie, on a quest to keep
baby Roshan safe from danger over ten varied levels.
These take place across rivers, snowscapes, caverns,
and volcanos and contain as much a puzzle theme as a
platforming one. Nothing ever gets too taxing though
as any new concept is explained by the various 'hint
stones' that you encounter, usually right in front of
a new challenge. When arriving at any of these the screen
will freeze and a graphic depicting exactly how to approach
the puzzle appears even including information on which
buttons to press.
Essentially there are two types of level - a push
scroll and a self scrolling. The former allows the player
to take their time solving puzzles and collecting acorns
whilst the latter has the Manny and Sid racing across
the screen and sometimes jumping blindly so as not to
fall off the left side of the screen meaning a repeat
of the level. Fortunately, as long as you've passed
the saber-toothed tiger, which represents a check point,
you won't have to repeat the whole level. You also have
a secondary objective which is to collect 40 acorns
on each level. Achieving this opens up a 'hidden secret'
but although reaching your quota is reasonably easy
on the push scroll levels you might find it more difficult
on the faster ones.
On completion of each level, with or without the
40 acorns, you'll be given a password and the next level
is opened up. This also keeps open all the previously
visited sections just in case you're striving for the
full 100 percent score and in case you can't remember
how well you've done all completed levels will have
a golden acorn icon.
Controls
As with most child friendly GBA titles it's back
to the days of the GBC style interface and nothing ever
becomes too complicated. As mentioned above all new
movement instructions are explained by 'hint stones'
which block your path until you've read them.
Graphics
Interestingly here although the actual movie features
highly detailed computer generated imagery the developers
have decided to go for a cartoon look and as a result
you're left with simple sprites which in no way utilises
the power of the GBA. The animation is fine and the
sprite detection is well above average but the visuals
bare little resemblance to their on-screen counterparts.
The intro and end sequence do, at least, feature static
shots lifted from the movie although given Ubi Soft's
current love affair with new technology these would
have been far better presented as Full Motion Video
clips.
Sound & Music
The sound effects are minimal so you don't get any
sampled voices of the main characters, a real shame
as most of them are comedians and this could have added
greatly to the overall game value. The music on the
other hand is a sample taken from the movie which although
it's on a loop is actually quite pleasant to listen
to.
Final Comments
Although the game concept is a refreshing change
from the normal platform style we'd expect from a movie
license, Ice Age does unfortunately suffer from a few
minor setbacks. Firstly it's a little tricky and possibly
too difficult for the age range it's obviously aimed
at. In addition, with only ten levels and no sub games
it's woefully inadequate for the standard of content
we've now come to expect as there appears to have been
nothing to stop the developers at least adding more
levels. Fans of the movie really should try this out
before handing over their cash as the final product
is a GBC title in every respect so it's a shame you're
paying a GBA price.
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