Developer: Virtual Toys
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS Vita
The Muppets: Movie Adventures – Review
We all know The Muppets, those crazy, huggable animals from our youth. Well, if you’re like me and you love to let some nostalgic feelings take over once in a while, then this new Muppets game might be worth checking out. If you’re not a fan or if you’ve never even heard of The Muppets, you might want to look elsewhere as this game is mostly a treat for the fans. Let me explain myself below.
Story
In The Muppets: Movie Adventures you are the star in 5 different movies with each their own scenario and actors/actresses. One time, you’ll be playing as Kermit, dressed up in a pirates costume while the next movie is about Princess Miss Piggy (she chose the name herself) on a quest to save her beloved frog musician.
Let’s be honest here, you won’t be playing this game for the good storylines. There’s barely any dialogue at all and although the narrator does her best, it still feels barely enough to hold the game together. Looking at the story, Movie Adventures definitely isn’t the best game to play.
Graphics
All the movies in the game have a bright and vivid color scheme which is very pleasant to look at. The worlds are quite detailed and even the backgrounds have been thought thoroughly about. The character models and dress-ups are more than okay but it wouldn’t have hurt if some more different looking enemies where in each movie. It’s mostly the same bunch of bad guys that give you a hard time in each level which is understandable considering the unique themes of each movie, but still, it feels like some creativity is missing here.
Sound
The narrator’s voice is a pleasant one to listen to and immediately sets the (funny) tone for the whole game. As already mentioned in the story section of this review, the game is filled with humor and the narrator does a great job of getting the most laughs from the gamers. Unfortunately, you won’t hear the voices of our beloved Muppets as their texts are simply written down and not spoken. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity as it would’ve made this game a lot more authentic.
One small remark but which caused quite some irritation while playing trough Movie Adventures, are the same spoken sentences when you die. Ok, I get it, I failed, and it’s not good enough for the movie and so on, but please, stop repeating the same thing over and over again!
Gameplay
The Muppets Movie Adventures is a platformer like we know quite a few, but with some fun additions, specifically made for the PlayStation Vita. While you’ll be moving your character around with the thumbsticks like usual, sometimes the game will ask you to use the front and rear touch screen to perform some simple tasks. Although these tasks are far from challenging (for example: at one point, players will have to press the front touch screen several times to make a TNT barrel go BOOM) it’s enjoyable to see how the developers of the game kept the abilities of the Vita in mind, something that’s quite rare these days unfortunately.
Another positive remark about the game is that there’re multiple dimensions in the movies which let you jump from the front to the back or give the opportunity for bad guys to try and attack from the background. This makes the game a lot more interesting than it would’ve if it were only a mere sidescroller. The only thing annoying about this part is that it provides the game with simple excuses for you to constantly backtrack from the frontline to the back one and vice versa, just to be able to continue an area.
The game plays pretty smooth and it was hard not to appreciate the often humorous character designs and storylines of the 5 different movies. One small hiccup though, is that it’s way too easy to fall off a platform and not because your incompetence of playing a platformer but more because something isn’t completely right with the controls. Occasionally, the jump button didn’t work as desired either. Once you keep those things in mind though, it’s not that hard to bypass those issues with being careful enough.
Fans of collectibles will have a blast with Movie Adventures as there are a bunch of things to collect like stars, film rolls, and Golden Tickets. The game even encourages the player to replay a level for its collectibles by giving the player new abilities after completing a level for the first time. These abilities will help you greatly in acquiring remaining stars etc. After having unlocked all the extras, there’s not much left to do in the game and as it’s already on the short side, this doesn’t help with the replayability.
Conclusion
The Muppets are back and this time around, they play the leading roles in all kinds of humorous movies. Except for some minor issues like sluggish controls and some unneeded backtracking, the game’s still a pretty fun one to play if you’ve got some minutes of free time left. The game makes use of the Vita’s touch pads which is really plausible. Although the collectibles slightly extend the replayability of The Muppets: Movie Adventures, it still remains a pretty short game which you’ll finish in no time.
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