Basic Information:

System: Wii

Rating: E-10+

Licensed games. Games based on movies, books, or other entertainment mediums. Generally, they're rotten games. But for some reason, kids keep coming back for more every time a "movie game" is released. So, naturally, we can assume kids will flock to Gamestop to get this "Meet The Robinsons" game no matter what.

Having played the game over the weekend, I can say that while Meet The Robinsons isn't as bad as all licensed games, it's nothing special, but the intended age range will love it, especially if they've seen the film.

In the game, players embark on an alternate quest from the main movie. Playing as Wilbur Robinson, the child from the future who whisks Lewis away to his time, the game takes players through an alternate story from the Disney film. In the movie, Wilbur acts as a supporting character, but designers opted to give him the star treatment in the game, as he makes for a more adventurous and action-based character. The game's story is set as a parallel to the movie, so core elements are taken, but the story drives itself. In the game, Wilbur has possession of the Robinson time machine, and is using it to travel around the world through time. It makes for a fairly interesting set up to the kid-friendly gameplay.

The main gameplay is pretty formulaic, though what's there still feels fine. The game's designers attempted to emulate Zelda's control layout and design, having inventory selection assigned to the d-pad and the ability to target lock with the B button. Along those same lines, players will auto-jump when hitting a ledge, and be able to pull off context-sensitive moves with the A button whenever close to a ledge, near ladders, or against items that can be grabbed, pushed, or pulled. The camera system is pretty wonky on this Wii version, since you move the camera primarily by moving the controller, though brief research tells me the camera system is fine on other versions, like the PS2.

If you liked the movie, the game is for you. The game does an excellent job of emulating the feel of the film, mostly through the (cheesy) voice acting and cut scenes, which look great on the Wii. The solid graphics, simple gameplay, and interesting story will make kids love this game, but teens should spend their money elsewhere.