Sign of the Times

Being a ‘poor & starving artist’ a lot of…ALL of my video gaming is done ‘retro’ (I hate using that term on a machine that came out in the 2000s, but apparently that’s where we’re at) I don’t have a problem with gaming on a budget (hunting down seventh gen games in charity shops is one of my most favourite things to do) but just because it won ‘Game of the Year’ or scored high on Metacritic doesn’t mean I will personally enjoy it…

Motion Control Catastrophy

When the Wii first came out, the motion control was seen as (& probably ACTUALLY) groundbreaking. It was revolutionary…and a gimmick. The latter being the problem. I don’t mind a mini-game that requires a bit of tilting and shaking and ‘wand pointing’, but a full game? Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it just hasn’t aged well. Most probably, it’s both, because playing this game sucked.

The Pros

Before I get all negative Nancy, there are some things I enjoyed about it. The art is phenomenal (using many different styles) and the story has a real Disney/Mickey feel to it; it’s a magical adventure that slightly (and I mean slightly) takes me back to Castle of Illusion (legitimately one of the greatest games ever made) there are lots of things to collect and places to explore too. It’s a shame it handles so poorly…

The Cons

Simply put, it’s the gosh darn controls! If I’m not fiddling about with the lord awful camera (trying to get a decent angle while moving was near impossible, I literally had to stop, adjust the camera and THEN move) I was faffing about trying to get close enough to the items I needed to paint or thin (even trying to remember which was which was a tricky task at first, but that’s probably being more down to me)

I like my games to be, not necessarily fast action, but definitely smooth flowing. This was neither. As mentioned above, I would have to stop and position myself all too often before jumping or painting. It was a chore to play that literally left me with achy hands! (But again, that could just be me)

The Verdict

Was it good back in 2010 (NINE whole years ago!) We’ll according to IGN, yes (it was a ‘best of E3 2010 winner) but does it hold up now? For me…not at all. I would have loved to have played it back in the day to see how it felt back then, but we’ve come so far in the last 9 years or just simply doesn’t hold up in today’s market.

But what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts (good or bad)

Jo