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Movie games don't tend to be viewed as "real" videogames. You can plug them in to the console of your choice, pick up a controller, and have at it, but taken purely as games they're forgettable and generic, more often than not. Ratatouille is no different, but its real problem is how badly it fails as a piece of licensed merchandise. A few character designs, and a plot that has little to do with the movie, congeals into an uninspired 3D platformer / adventure, sprinkled with a handful of too easy mini-games. The result bears only a passing resemblance to the product it's based on.
Ratatouille is a kids' game for children who don't like to try very hard. |
Viewed strictly as a kids' game, rather than a movie tie-in, Ratatouille isn't all bad. Running through six levels, including the hub world, an unskippable tutorial, and a map that's a rerun of a previous level, Remy the rat helps his clan establish itself in Paris. Each level is designed around the city, from its streets and markets to Gusteau's restaurant (twice), and there's some fairly decent exploration and scavenger hunt gameplay. Each level has 100 stars, a small number of rare items that will spruce up the sewer home when they're all collected, and even a few pure platforming bonus levels. Remy does the usual run & jump, and waggling the Wii wand performs either a tail attack or, if he's found a spoon, a more powerful swipe. A quick tap of the B button makes Remy sniff the air, and a hazy blue trail will mark the path to either a fellow rat who's got the next assignment or the mission's objective.
Each level is divided up into several tasks, ranging from collect-a-thons, mini-games, or just climbing to a tricky area. Nothing in Ratatouille is particularly hard, but the mini-games are amazingly easy. Pointing to the matching ingredient doesn't take a whole lot of brain power. The only challenge is when the tilt control doesn't work quite right. Even death is only a momentary annoyance, with Remy coming right back to life with full health. Ratatouille is a kids' game for children who don't like to try very hard.
The big question, of course, is "Why is Ratatouille a kids' game?" Did nobody tell the poor developers that the movie's script looks nothing like what they were working on? Let's ignore the incredibly rich production values of the film, because they make no appearance anywhere in the game. A fun and thoughtful movie about food, multiple kinds of responsibility, and personal identity, written for young teenagers and older, has been merchandised as something for the 8 to 10 crowd. It doesn't take an advance degree in marketing to realize that there's something wrong there.
Ratatouille's biggest issue is that it's just licensed product. It's a barely competent game that feels like it was another box ticked off on the list of some executive's animated movie to do list. Action figures? Check. Marketing blitz on the Disney channel? Check. Ratatouille Folding Picnic Set, pajamas, and drinking glasses? You betcha! Ratatouille the game? Can't call it a full product line without that! If someone had gently explained to our lazy theoretical straw-man executive that a half-assed product aimed at the wrong market isn't doing anything to strengthen the core brand, we might (maybe!) have gotten a game worthy of the movie.
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