The big kids might not enjoy playing it, but even a gamer with more mature, refined tastes should be able to appreciate the presentation of Piglet's Big Game, which is truly inspired. Since each level actually takes place inside one of the character's heads, each is themed in a unique, rather surreal way. Pooh's dreamworld is constructed out of candies, cakes, cookies, and all other forms of sweets; young Roo's level is a forest that appears to be constructed out of cardboard and construction paper covered with crude but colorful children's scribbling; and the older, wiser, mostly nocturnal Owl has a level that reflects both his appreciation of books and the nighttime. Each of these levels has a crisp, sharp look with good, rich colors, some exceptional-looking textures, and a good attention to detail. The characters are also spot-on 3D renders of the classically cel-animated characters from The Hundred Acre Wood, with some clean animations. If that's not enough, the game also occasionally sports some nice soft-glow lighting effects, and the characters always cast some very realistic, well-defined shadows. The trade-off for the stunning good looks of Piglet's Big Game is that each level is chopped up into fairly small areas, which are separated by a significant load time. Since the pacing of the game is already pretty low-key, this doesn't hurt things too much, but it still would've been nice to have things move more fluidly.
The gameplay remains generally placid and easygoing throughout, and the game does lots of handholding.
The sound design is almost equally impressive, with tons of quality voice acting provided by the cast members of Piglet's Big Movie. The narrator from previous Winnie the Pooh cartoons keeps the story moving along, letting you know when you've completed an objective or hinting at a possible solution for a puzzle you have yet to solve. Music and simple ambient environmental sounds trade off duties in helping set the mood for the different levels, and all of it is appropriately subtle and underplayed; you'll find nothing jarring and over-the-top here.
It's true that there are lots and lots of poor-quality games in virtually any genre, but it seems that the kids' games get the lion's share, as publishers seem to rarely have much respect for the intellect of that particular audience. Piglet's Big Game is a wonderful exception to this rule and a good example of how to bring a licensed property and quality production together without compromising either.
Where to buy
Piglet's Big Game (GameCube):
$14.95
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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GamesDirectOnline
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$14.95 | No |
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