Common Sense Media Review
By Jinny Gudmundsen
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Movie-based game with frustrating, inconsistent controls.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
What's It About?
In THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, you control a little mouse with overly large ears, who is different from all of his fellow mice because he is not afraid. This game is based on the movie of the same name, and recreates the story originally told in Kate DiCamillo's book, The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread. The game unfolds over 15 levels, during which Despereaux explores a castle, meets Princess Pea, and then goes on a quest to rescue her after she has been kidnapped.
Playing as a mouse, you learn how to run, jump, shimmy up walls, leap and fly using your big ears, tiptoe past humans, jump from wall to wall, swing down ledges, and straddle narrow opening so that you can walk up them, as well as other mouse actions. Fighting is done by waving the Wii remote in different directions and adding in some button presses.
Is It Any Good?
Exploring these vast envionments from a mouse's point of view is fascinating. And it is very helpful to have a path of cheese to follow to help you figure out how to get through each of the levels. But, unfortunately, controlling this little mouse is anything but easy. Despereaux floats places you don't expect him to go, and even with the cheese showing you a path, it takes lots of patience to make this little mouse do what he is suppose to do. For example, at one point, he is supposed to jump from wall to wall to make it up to the top. Instead of being easy, you may find yourself just hurling the little rodent against the walls in hope that he will find that magic spot that lets him keep going instead of falling off. The game's fixed camera view also causes frustration as you find yourself flinging yourself off of a ledge and hoping you will land on something instead of falling to your death.
On a positive note, there are lots of save points within the levels, so that when you do die, it is easy to try again. Likewise, the new lives are easy to find, so it is rare that you have to start the level over. The game can be played on two levels of difficulty.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Familes can talk about why it is that many children's games are based on movies. Did you buy this game because you had seen the movie? Was it fun to play, or did the inconsistent controls bother you?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo Wii , Windows , PlayStation 2
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Atari
- Release date : December 12, 2008
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 19, 2019
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