Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: VU Games Developer: Eurocom Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Themed/ Action/ Platformer (3D)
Graphics & Sound: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown gives you control of the littlest character in the movies, Scrat, as you follow Manny, Sid and Diego throughout the events of the second Ice Age movie. Graphics are broken up into two styles. There are the straight-from-the-film cut scenes with voice-overs by the films' actors giving a brief overview of a scene. and then there are the in-game graphics. Of course, the pre-rendered stuff from Fox Animation are the best looking visuals in the game, but that is to be expected. In-game stuff isn't that bad looking. Most characters and environments are detailed and really help pull you into the game. Scrat himself looks just as furry and frustrated as his silver-screen counterpart, while supporting characters like Manny and Sid (well supporting in the game, not the movie) also come off nicely. Visuals aren't the only aspect coming from the film. Chris Wedge, Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo all reprise their roles for this game. Chris Wedge (the squeaky, grunting voice of Scrat) does his usual top-notch job of conveying meanings without actually using words. Interestingly enough, the number of sound-clips used for Scrat might not be a whole lot, but since what he says isn't intelligible, his in-game "comments" never get annoying like other games where the character actually throws out understandable one-liners all the time.
Gameplay: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown is the second Ice Age movie from the point of view of Scrat. As the little acorn-hording squirrel-rat, you will run around gathering nuts, swimming, gathering nuts, attacking animals 10 times larger than you, and gathering nuts. In each level, you will run into many of the characters or species established in the films - some of these will be good and helpful, while others will attack you. Scrat isn't totally defenseless, though. Not only does Scrat have a few attacks, like spinning real fast and hitting enemies with his tail, but he can also throw pebbles to knock opponents out. But The Meltdown is more than just an action-platformer. Frequently scattered throughout levels are mini-games that Scrat or one of the other main characters will have to complete in order to progress in the level and/or story. For instance, in order to get out of a cave, Scrat must have some bats scare a large animal out from the exit. Scrat does this by watching which bat has one of his nuts and choosing that bat after they all fly around in circles (a la The Shell Game). Another mini-game has Sid sliding down a long ice-ramp collecting acorns, going through check-points and performing complex aerial acrobatics. Once you earn enough points in this mini-game, Scrat takes back over and you are running around beating up enemies and collecting nuts (again). As you progress through the game, you will also unlock six different interviews with the various cast and crew members of Ice Age 2 (the movie and the game). Interviews include Chris Wedge, Ray Romano (Manny), Denis Leary (Diego), John Lequizamo (Sid), Josh Peck (Eddie) and Alan Tudyk (Cholly, though you might also remember him as Wash from Firefly and Serenity).
Difficulty: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown is not a hard game. The platforming areas are lightly sprinkled with enemies and the enemies themselves can be quickly taken down by button-mashing the attack key. The mini-games, though requiring some practice, are also fairly simple. In fact, there were only a few mini-games that took any length of time for me to get past. But these were typically due to my personal short-comings (particularly my lack of timing and rhythm) and not because the game itself was incredibly challenging.
Game Mechanics: In the platformer sections of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Scrat's control scheme is only slightly out of the norm, but still easy to get used to. Scrat can jump by pressing the X button and he can perform a ground-stomp attack by double jumping, then pressing the Square. The R2 button is Scrat's special attack that will have him either rolling across the ground or twirling around in circles. Scrat can also toss pebbles at his opponents with the Circle button, while holding down the L1 switches Scrat into sniff-mode. In sniff-mode, Scrat can see scents and he can see which bushes nuts and acorns are hidden in. When in one of the many mini-games, the control scheme changes to fit that particular game's framework. The controls can be simply using the analog stick to guide Sid down a slippery-ice-slide or selecting a hanging bat or setting the direction and spin of a bowling ball when you are bowling for penguins. Though the controls change wildly between mini-games, they are always easy to pick up and you get plenty of practice since, more times than not, you will have to repeat challenges two or three times. Ice Age 2 is a fun game, but it is definitely geared towards the younger crowd. It's easy platformer levels and simple, yet fun, mini-games come in quick bursts, letting kids with short attention spans play for a few minutes, get to a break point and come back later.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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