"DS game isn't all it's cracked up to be..."

In fact, I don't think it was cracked up at all in the first place. This game looks nice on the box, and the screenshots look decent enough. But what this game lacks is an interesting storyline.

Story- 6/10,
For the story, it follows the film okay, although it deviates from it with lots (and I mean lots) of side quests. These are fun for a while, but they soon become quite boring and repetetive. The story is stretched out a little, to add depth to the game, and more to do.

Game play- 5/10,
This is one of the strong parts of the game. Each character has their own skills, for example Peter is the strongest, and Susan the quickest. At the stores placed about the map, you can buy character-specific items, and can use them with that character only. You can in most cases switch between the children when you want to, although there are points in the game where you can only play as one.

A lot of this game will be spent going through all the maps, searching for one thing. This can take a while, and probably will make you put it down. But when you do find what you are looking for, you are treated to a prize and possibly a cut-scene. There are lots of little extra quests, often for no more than a few ice shards prize, but they are easy to complete.

The battle system is confined to hack-and-slash, and button mashing with one button. Depending on which character you are controlling at the time, you will have different attacks. Lucy will use her dagger, and Edmund will use his sword. As you level up each character, you gain Virtue points. Each virtue point can be used to upgrade one of that child's stats.

Control- 7/10,
The control in the Chronicles of Narnia is simple where the buttons are concerned. Only the A and B buttons are used properly, and the X and Y buttons are not used at all. Some features can only be accessed on the touch screen, which causes a slight problem in an otherwise perfect system of control. Menus can be hard to navigate, as there is nothing to explain what everything does. On the whole, I'm impressed with the controls, and it would be quite easy for someone who has never played a game before to pick it up and play.

Graphics- 7/10,
In terms of graphics, the game is not bad. Isometric view and 3D worlds. It can be confusing when enemies appear as you can't really see where you are. All the landscapes are beautiful, with falling snow, and puddles that splash when you step in them. All the friendly creatures are animated well, and are smooth. All pause and touch screen menus are a nice shade of wood, which is eay on the eye. The only problem I had was in Aslan's camp. There were a number of squares on the screen that stayed the same image for a couple of seconds, although this could have been just my cartridge.

Sound- 5/10,
Taking full advantage of the DS's speakers, this game has lots of full orchestral music, and lots of synthesised music. In the snowy areas, you can hear hard bitter music, just like what you are seeing on the screen. Overall quality of the music is good, if not a bit repetetive.

As for the sound, the usual jingle when you pick up items can be heard often, but never gets tiring. No voices are used, and enemy roars are convincing.

Overall- 6/10.
Buena Vista games tried very hard to recreate the moments of the film in playable format, and they succeeded to some extents. Some elements of the game could be made much better, but some are fine the way they are.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/14/06