Alice in Wonderland is a Disney game made to monopolize on the movie's success. It sits along the same lines as the other versions of this game, but this one seems to stand out in a big way. That's not such a bad thing, either.
The game has the exact same story as the movie, with a few deviations to make this iteration of the game stand out. You are tasked to escort Alice through Underland, protecting her from the red guards as you gather the puzzle pieces to make the Oraculum map whole again. And when I say puzzle pieces, I mean LITERAL puzzle pieces. It's a simple story for a such a simple game, and it works very well.
In this side-scrolling platformer/action game, you play one of four characters and have to lead Alice around Underland. You can't leave her behind for any reason. It's similar to Ico's mechanic of bringing Yorda along everywhere, except with Alice and in Underland. You even have to help Alice across gaps and up ledges, though Alice doesn't seem to be as able as Yorda...
You attack by touching an enemy or swiping downwards/upwards. Left/Right swipes cause you to use a dashing attack. Touching your character and then swiping diagonally up causes a dodge roll. Holding any of the DS's buttons activates the special ability controls. It's a very simple control scheme, but it does take some time getting used to. Be prepared to be awkward with the controls for at least 30+ minutes.
Oh, and it can be one of those games where you waste five minutes on it then turn it off. Save points are EVERYWHERE, even 2 minutes into the game. It's kind of annoying, almost, but it's nice to have something there in case you need to suddenly quit for some reason.
One more thing: FUCKING. D-GAMER. The game can connect with it. On the DS, it's mainly a chat service with an avatar system. You can get things for your avatar by passing through different sections of the game, and the bottom part of the screen is taken up by a faux-achievement of avatar clothes won for D-Gamer. Also when you start up the game, you're asked if you want to play the game or connect to D-Gamer. If I could patch this out of the game, I definitely would.
The graphics of this game are extremely simplistic, and it really takes advantage of the DS's graphical capabilities. I would say it kind of looks like the drawings of a child, put into 3D models and given life. The colors, whenever there are any, are very vibrant and nice to look at.
However...be prepared to look at a LOT of black and white. Very much of the game is comprised of the colors black and white, which is odd considering the Red Queen's aversion to the color white. People's skin is white. Everything in the game has a black border. The ground and background are occasionally white, but the ground's usually black. If you take it into consideration, there is a LOT of black and white.
....but Alice's expressions are so cute sometimes! *Squee*
Alice in Wonderland is very simplistic in the sound environment. The music fades in and out at times, making it look like the locales you visit are very quiet. The characters have their own little grunts and yells, of which you'll notice Alice's the most.
Turn that sound on. If you're blind not to see the icon with her face in it every time she's off-screen, you'll NEED the sound on. Every time she's captured by a red knight or when you've been away for too long, she'll cry out or start crying. However, none of the sounds are very annoying. They're actually very pleasant to the ear.
The hit noises are stereotypical hit noises and there's nothing to be said of those, however.
PROS- Very fun
- Easy to pick up and play for a few minutes due to an abundance of save points
- Nice soundtrack
- Cute visuals that aren't detracted by the limits of the Nintendo DS
CONS- Stark contrasts of color (usually black and white) might be a bit hard on the eyes occasionally
- The story is stereotypical of movie games, making it forgettable.
- D-Gamer compatible game causes annoying faux-achievements and annoying splash screen upon startup
RATING: 7/10
(It would have a better score but I took some points off for the D-Gamer thingy)
