Parents' Guide to Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure

While his adventures have always been the most clever parts of the Ice Age movies, Scrat's new game is far too simplistic for anyone but his youngest of fans. In Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure, our hapless pal has once again lost his acorn, and in trying to get it back, winds up running around like his parents are Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft. In his quest to find four crystal nuts, Scrat has to jump and climb through a large, obstacle course-like world. But he also has to use his limited martial arts skills and throwing arm to take out beetles, rodents, and other animals bent on stopping him.

As fun as this might sound -- and Scrat's littlest fans will find it quite engaging -- it's also so easy that even those littlest fans won't enjoy this as much as they do his cinematic adventures. While there are problems to solve and pathways to figure out, neither provide much of a mental challenge. Similarly, Scrat's enemies don't put up much of a fight, which is good because his kung-fu isn't strong. He also can't throw very hard, which is a problem because that's the only way to take out flying insects. Even worse, the controls are a bit loose, and can't be adjusted, making it sometimes difficult to jump on the right platform with any kind of accuracy. But while Scrat fans old enough to work the TV will find this way too simple and easy, his young disciples will still enjoy the Bugs Bunny-like slapstick antics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-esque kicking of Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure.