Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

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"What happened to the Monolith Game Engine...?" 

Admittedly, my review of the game based on the latest Disney Animated feature, Atlantis, was hardly favorable. Disney Interactive's "Trial By Fire" was not only a total rush job; it seemed to be only half the game they intended. Regardless, the game engine licensed for use by that game is the same one that led to some major award winning fare, including No One Lives Forever. Imagine a Monsters Inc game with a game engine like that! For that matter, imagine a game based on Cinderella, Little Mermaid, or even Tron, with a game engine like that! Here's hoping Disney hasn't shelved that game engine entirely. It has its uses; it just was used poorly by the Trial By Fire team, that's all.

Sure the Super Mario genre is beginning to seem a bit dated. However, it's not half as dated as Disney games used to be. I mean, all those "interactive storybooks" games impress my 3 year old niece, though what about older kids? Well, if they loved the latest Disney/Pixar collaboration, Monsters, Inc., then they have no less than 4 Disney games to choose from; three quickie parlor-type games, and Monsters Inc: Scare Island. Granted, as an adult, I was able to finish this game in a single day (and easy game to review, at least). However, I must admit, it was one of the most enjoyable days I had all year.

The only gripe kids may have with this game, is that it only loosely resembles the film. You see, this is the story of Mike and Sully before they were head scare team. Until you help them out, they are just apprentices in the job. You go with them through basic training, and then through the 12 test areas of "scare island," to practice your skills. Much like a Super Mario game, you must energize yourself (with monster juice of some sort), collect tokens (in this case, spinning "Monsters Inc." logos), and of course, test your scare skills.

It's the testing of scaring that makes this game fun and unique. You see, much like in the movie, apprentice monsters must hone their skills with robot test dummies. This is good for parents, since every character in this game that isn't Mike or Sully, is a robot, so scaring them or "hurting" them isn't an issue. Likewise for the scaring, which as in the movie is more funny than scary. "Booga Booga Booga!" goes Mike, while Sully's growl is like a teddy bear's.

This alludes to the best part of the game; you get to choose which character you use for each mission. No, it doesn't matter which one, and yes, if you prefer, you can use the same character throughout the game with no penalty if you do. Personally, I like one-eyed Mike the best, so using him for all missions was a blast. While gameplay is similar for both, they each are animated differently, and perform differently when you use their "scare" skill or other skills. 

Either character, when used to complete a level, leads to the same rewards: bronze, silver, and gold medals. In the interest of fairness for younger kids, the best reward is offered immediately for bronze, in the form of a short full-screen clip from the film. However, if you look for all the company logos (silver) and all the extra hidden robot scare dummies (gold), you'll be shown an extra clip from the film, that completes the story (sort of; the very final scene is reserved for theaters only...darn!).

I kept pictures and review time short on this one, because this particular type of game is like running on auto-pilot, for those of us who have played as little as one Super Mario 3D game, or its many "clones." However, don't get me wrong; if you liked the movie, getting to play as Sully and/or Mike is totally cool! It's even cooler to see actual clips from the movie for even the littlest completed tasks. I may not have liked the overall shortness of this game, though at least it was longer --and far more entertaining-- than another Disney Interactive based-on-the-film release this year, Atlantis: Trial By Fire. Disney has been gratefully improving their gaming skills with each game release. If the next 3D accelerated game by this company is even better than Scare Island, count me in to play it!