Treasure Planet screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 8.0 Graphics 7.5 Sound 7.5 Value 8.0 Treasure Planet -  reviewed by Andrew B  Review Date: 1 December 2002 Review Score 8.0/10 Distributed By: Sony

Sony Computer Entertainment and Disney Interactive have returned again in a cooperative effort to produce Treasure Planet that is based on the soon to be released Disney animated blockbuster. If the title, Treasure Planet sounds familiar to you then its because it has been based on the Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island but instead of being set in the past is now set in the distance future where mankind has conquered space.  You play the role of Jim Hawkins, an adventurous teenager who discovers a treasure map that will lead him to Treasure Planet. With the help of Dr. Doppler and Captain Amelia, the trio of adventurous must uncover this secret planet before Long John Silver does. As with most Sony and Disney games, the game contains quite a bit of footage from the Disney movie and in its simplest form is an arcade game. Although the game is strictly an arcade game, it contains two different types of gameplay modes that include traditional platform levels and a game that looks like Kelly Pro Surfer in space which is called Solar Surfing.  The traditional platform levels has you running around the screen like Ratchet & Clank where you must use your bionic arms to crash and smash your way through crates and enemies in order to collect objects and proceed through the levels. The controls of Treasure Planet are quite simple as you use the left analog stick to move your character, while the "X" allows you to jump or double jump, circle lets you kick and perform special manoeuvres and the square button allows you punch and perform special actions with powerups.  As you proceed through the game, you will be treated to some spectacular cinematics from Disney movie and you will eventually find your jetpack that lets you fly across dangerous obstacles in the game. As with most arcade games, its not really a platformer unless you can collect coins that can be used to bestow energy upon your character. If you collect one hundred coins, you will be rewarded one point of energy. The solar surfing levels are quite tricky because of the awkwardness of the control system and you must perform a variety of tricks such as jumps and even rails.  The graphics engine of Disney's Treasure Planet is almost identical to the movie with many of the locations and backgrounds taken directly straight from the movie itself. Many of the backgrounds in the game are truly quite spectacular and give you a true sense of depth as some of the levels and draw distance in the game is extremely large. From the previews of the movie, the game borrows the same colour palette from the movie and everything in the game has this unearthly brown hue to it.

The characters and enemies in the game are extremely well animated and wear the same clothing as their movie counterparts that really helps put this across as a movie-adapted game. The game maintains a constant 60 frames per second for some extremely smooth gaming but unfortunately every now and then you will see some graphic glitches but this does not take away from the gameplay at all.

Treasure Planet has one of the most highly addictive soundtracks around because it has been directly taken from the Disney movie itself and features all the same sound effects too. The voice acting has a very professional and high calibre feel to it and everything comes together quite perfectly. 

Treasure Planet isn't the best arcade game around at the moment but kids will love the game because it borrows heavily from the movie. Older gamers will get a kick out of the game but unfortunately it falls short of current arcade games on the market at the moment such as Ratchet & Clank and the upcoming Sly Cooper. With sharp graphics and an overall well made game, Treasure Planet is the perfect game for parents to get Santa to place under the Christmas tree this year!

- Andrew B