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Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb are two stepbrothers,
forever busy working out how to spend their summer vacation (There's 104
days of summer vacation apparently), as the story goes in the Disney
Cartoon of the same name. To pass the time, they have outlandish
adventures and build magnificent contraptions, with their sister Candace
attempting to tell on them to Mom all along the way. The DS version of
the game is based around several episodes of the show with cutscenes
faithfully recreating scenes of the episodes.
This is a 2D platform game and not such a bad game at that. You control
Phineas and Herb and must traverse through the neighbourhood collecting
different items. These items allow you to build powerups (to jump
higher, for example) or build a vehicle and track, the ultimate goal of
each level. Arrows appear to indicate stylus gestures to start specific
actions on different objects and there are numerous minigames (such as
tracing a shape without hitting the side or hitting the nails as fast as
possible) that are needed to progress through the level. The minigames
are wide and varied such that they don't get too boring even though they
are repeated often. Different objects require either one or both
characters - Ferb is the more gadgety and technical of the two while
Phineas is the brains and a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. After building
your vehicle and track, you get to ride it (it's a rollercoaster on the
first level) whilst avoiding paint, oil and collecting stars, and the
destinations that these tracks lead you to are as outlandish as the
series itself (One can't help but smile when you get to China). Candace
is forever watching and certain actions will increase her meter while
other items you pick up along the way will decrease it. When the meter
fills up, she will chase you around the yard while you pick up screws,
in a simple amusing pacman style minigame.
The show bases itself around the fact that both adults and kids can
watch but the game itself requires reasonable dexterity so the
frustration factor for much younger kids may be too great. The platform
element is ultra forgiving but some experience with other platform games
will help the younger players. The music and graphics are cheerful and
the levels are stylishly realised to keep with the look of the show.
The levels are varied and the minigames keep the game interesting.
Snippets of voiceovers improves the experience and the aforementioned
cutscenes will amuse viewers who have watched the respective episodes.
Fans of the show will be pleased to see familiar faces and catchphrases
(like Isabella saying "Hey Phineas, watcha doing?"), but the humour of
the show seems to be slightly lost along the way. Gone are the James
Bond-esque adventures of the pet platypus Perry replaced with allusions
to his capers in the backdrops. Candace plays a bit-part, as a
perpetual bogey-woman while the regular characters are there as
window-dressing, just responding with one liners. This is fine, as it's
the gameplay that makes this quite a delight. The game keeps the player
motivated with the different levels, items to build and wanting to get
just a bit further. The difficulty level though is a little too easy for
adults and the story may be a little simplistic which makes this a
recommended play for the kids and for fans of the show. |
