Curious George

"Yeah you guessed it; they made a game about the president of the United States..."

-Curious George for the PS2-

Dude, what the **** is it?

Hey. Mind your language!

Okay, what the hell is it?

Curious George is game based on the movie which is based on some fictional children's books starring the little monkey known as George. It's a simple platformer with cute graphics and some "exploration" elements and follows the story of the recent animated movie.

So is it a kid's game?

It is intended for kids and as such it is supposed to be easy and lacking in challenge but the horrible unbalancing completely ruins it. Although the game in general is extremely easy, some parts are very very hard and need a master to go through simply because of a glitch or a programming error (like the unbelievable timing required to do a frickin' double jump). So it's too hard for a kid, yet either too frustrating or too easy for an adult.

It's a platformer, right? You mean like Crash Bandicoot?

It's more along the line of a very easy and linear Prince of Persia game. You have platforms and some swings and you move from this place to the next by jumping or swinging or whatever in a kind of straight line with the destination clear and obvious. There are some glitches like collision detection problems or programming errors that make some parts very annoying. Things like, as previously mentioned, the quick timing required for doing a double jump or the "invisible" platforms that either get in your way or significantly make it easier for you to continue. In short, it's got swinging and platforming but with a broken difficulty and some glitches.

What about the exploration elements you talked about earlier?

There are these bananas thrown in your way that you have to collect and there are the "curious points" that George can interact with. You see when you take George in front of something like a TV or a suitcase a question mark pops up and you can make George interact with the object by doing some stuff or using it or messing around with it and the likes. Unfortunately, these are very limited, very simple, very boring and are always easy to find and repeating. Nothing impressive.

So the game only has swinging, jumping, collecting bananas and being curious?

Yeah I know it's very simple and gets pretty monotonous so they added in a bunch of mini games that have you pushing buttons in a musical order ala Parappa the Rapper. Boooooring. Besides that, everything the game offers has already been listed in your question. The game is also only 3-4 hours long and has some lousy unlockables like different hats or new mini games (tunes).

What about graphics and sound?

The graphics are really cool and the game has a similar look to Wind Walker. It's cell shaded but doesn't have a lot of outlining and generally looks very nice. The sound effects are average but the voice acting is great. The same guys who made the movie couldn't all come so they brought some people that sound like Will Ferrell and the other stars and they do a pretty good job.

Dude, give me the bottom line. Should I buy this for me/my kid/cousin...etc ?

No.

It's extremely easy for a normal person and can't be given to a kid because of the annoying glitches and problems that make a couple pf parts extremely hard. It's also really short and lacks any exploration or freedom. If you're a fan of Curious George however, then rent it and maybe buy it after a price drop or something. It's not worth the full retail price.

Why does Curious George keep following the man in the yellow hat?

Because he has lots of oil under his hat.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/06, Updated 06/01/06