Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"This won't last long --for me, it only took three hours to complete the whole game for this review-- though for littler kids, that's just the type of simpler game they're looking for."

---from the review

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I...HATE...LAVA!!! What is it about games that constantly offer us a Lava level? I think any average gamer can name half a dozen games off the top of their head, which forced them to endure the glaring, glowing red lava levels, where falling means instant death yet somehow, floating platforms above the lava always seem to survive, long enough for you to jumping-bean your way to the end of the level. These are wlways the toughest levels of the game, and they are pretty thankless when completed. Why is this game --unquestionably intended for children-- not immune to the lava level craze of 3D game map editors? This is a cliché that needs to end.

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Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise is the latest Disney Interactive release, to make a Super Mario clone out of the latest Disney theatrical release (see Techtite's review of the film, here). It is an amusing tradition that pleases the kids, and allows the child (and often parent, who must control the character for younger kids) to play as the latest Disney cartoon heroes and heroines. This latest game allows you to play as both Lilo and Stitch. For fans of the film, what else is there to know?

The answer to that requires memories of last year's lackluster Disney game release, Atlantis: Trial By Fire! That was a game over before you started. It didn't even seem to be made by anyone who truly saw the film, with environments that resembled little from the movie. Furthermore, its first-person perspective meant little was shown to prove you were playing as Milo, or anyone in particular. Suffice to say, Disney learned most of its lessons there, and this game is far more fun.

The game is not unlike a Super Mario clone, where Lilo and Stitch take alternating turns completing different levels: 8 for Lilo, 8 for Stitch, plus four "boss levels" where a villain from the film must be defeated. Don't worry; there's nothing truly violent here, any more than the film the game is based. Lilo will stomp little more than a few bugs, and beat that obnoxious girl at a bike race. Stitch will kick a few bounty hunter aliens in the fanny when they're not looking, and stomp a few spiders. This is all to collect various trinkets within four levels at a time (photographs, Elvis records, homing devices that threaten Stitch's safety) to proceed to the next quartet of game levels. This won't last long --for me, it only took three hours to complete the whole game for this review-- though for littler kids, that's just the type of simpler game they're looking for.

Not that there isn't a frustration level here, however mild. For one, jumping puzzles are frequent, in a game engine where jumping is not an exact science. There are times I had to jump while running, when the game would seem to allow me only to jump in place; a major problem, when I was trying to jump off a platform that's about to fall into the lava below. Furthermore, I had some problems making the game work on older graphics cards during a compatibility test; a flaw worth mentioning, since this is a game that's supposed to work on cards as old as the 8-megabytes-of-VRAM models. There were also some clipping issues, like Stitch nearly walking through a ladder he's supposed to "automatically" climb, or Lilo falling off a cliff when I definitively pressed the jump key in time. Regardless, parents should have little trouble completing this game for their small tykes in as little as one evening of game play, and kids with an affinity for Super Mario games should make short work of the game, no matter what limitations the game interface may have. The lava monster bosses (shown here) are particularly easy to defeat.

Topping off the fun factor are cut scenes --both in-game, as well as video clips from the actual movie-- which reward you upon completion of key levels. For kids who loved the movie, this is welcome news, since the movie will not likely be released on video for some time. This game is a nice consolation, since it has enough clips from the actual movie, and realistic models of Lilo and Stitch, to make kids actually feel like they're re-living the movie for real. This game's fun factor may lose its muscle as soon as the movie is out on DVD, though until then, this is a game meant for kids, that will be fun for kids...though a game that is fun for the whole family would've been even better.