|   
 | The Final Say! | Gameplay
7.9 | Graphics
8.1 | Sound
7.4 | Value
7.9 |
Shark Tale
- reviewed by Tory Favro
Review Date: October 2004
Review Score 7.9/10
Not Based on an Average
Distributed By: Activision | | |
I liked this one
folks and it's not often that a movie to game transition is easily
made. Don't get me wrong, Shark Tale doesn't redefine any genre at
all, it's just good old fashioned fun that fans of the movie will
get a kick out of.
There's really
something for everyone here regardless of what style of gameplay
that you are into. There are a number of different things that
must be done including Racing, Adventuring, Fighting and even
Dancing! So if there isn't something there that appeals then I
guess it's simply bad luck.
I'll get this out of
the way quickly for you, if you have a dance mat for the PS2, grab
it out when you play this game as you can use it during the
dancing sequences making for a lot of animated fun both on and off
the screen. I thought it was worth mentioning as dance mats are
not that expensive anymore either so worth the purchase.
If you haven't seen
the movie then I better sum it up quickly for you or risk
alienating you for the rest of the review. You get to play the
role of the hero Oscar who is a small fish that owes quite a bit
of money to the local loan shark (literally) Don Lino. When Oscar
doesn't pay the debt, Lino sends his son Lenny to take care of
this no good fish but it turns out that Lenny is a vegetarian! The
shark and fish work out a scam to try to get Oscar the money that
he owes and some more in the process, however the whole thing
backfires and that's where all the fun comes into the game.
I think one of the
things that make this game so much fun and generally enjoyable is
that even though there has been a real effort to be true to the
film, the change in game styles through the title will mean that
gamers should never get sick of playing the game at any stage,
there really isn't any reason to be as by the time you are sick of
anything, it'll be over and you'll have a list of new things to
move onto.
Fans of the flick and
gamers alike should be really pleased with the appearance of the
title, they've done a really neat job of making all the characters
represent their movie counterparts, and the depth of detail in the
gaming environment is something to behold, it's all executed very
well and is pleasing on the eye. Audio is well done in terms of
general in game sounds and music score, however it was really
surprising to find that they couldn't use the voice of Will Smith
who plays Oscar in the Shark Tale movie. The guy who is used
sounds pretty heavy handed and you do lose the sense of realism
that you would have gotten in the game if it has been otherwise.
There isn't much in
the way of a learning curve here to test players out either in any
of the stages. There is a series of helpful arrows and hints and
tips that appear on screen just when you need them and that sure
does allow you to just get in and have fun. I think that this is a
nice way to look at games of this nature as the first thing that
gamers want with this type of title is the ability to get in and
relive the moments of the film that made you enjoy it as much as
you did. Shark Tale is a rare
beast in that it does almost exactly what it's meant to: bring a
movie home in an interactive and fun form that gamers can lose
themselves in as a good little distraction as you play your way
through an entertaining experience. Recommended. - Tory Favro |
