Over the Hedge

"Tough to judge. The pros and cons are equally matched. :("

Get. Over. It.

....not! The DS version of "Over the Hedge" follows it's own story rather than the one of the movie. It's gotten a few gadgets to help you in your quests to forage food or retrieve various items. It's a fun game, and takes advantage of the touch screen feature so that you can target objects, switches and characters by touching them; touching the face of the character in the corner causes you to switch to that character. You can also use the sound system to distract guards and pets or to wake up a KO'ed character. I thought that movie-based games were getting pretty lousy (and extremely easy) but I was very surprised to find that this game hard and pure frustrating. Getting an object isn't enough, you have to backtrack as well! I got through the entire obstacle course and died when I was seconds away from beating it. Where do I find myself? AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL!!!

Graphics
8/10
Wow. I was surprised with what the developers managed to pull off. The cutscenes are fully 3D, the gameplay is also fully 3D. Imagine something late PS1 or early PS2-ish, possibly somewhere in between. Now add in touch screen. Voila! You get a normal view on the top screen and a overhead view on the bottom one. Now, the reason I didn't give this a nine (which it deserved had it not been this) is because of the elements. The same regular platforming elements and environment is used, the traps in different co-ordination to increase difficulty (and it works, but they should've tweaked the environments. I mean, come on, it's always this house you run into with a few different family members, a bunch of traps and a large maze to traverse before you can get the required object and then backtrack to the target... thing. And, on a side note, if you've read my review for the PS2 version, the graphics there ARE better, but don't meet PS2 standards, while this meets DS standards.

Story
8/10
The reason I give this is because the story is original. Rather than following the movie's tale, Over the Hedge follows the events that take place after the movie. First and foremost that wicked lady Gladys is back, and getting her house rebuilt. Then there's Henry (pronounced awn-ri). He's the new exterminator in town and he's managed to put traps all around the houses in the neighborhood. A little twist about him, I'm not gonna spoil it. Meanwhile, RJ and co. are gathering up new friends, who are all species that are dying out. They'll stay with RJ and co., but they need some things to get settled in.

Gameplay
6.5/10
I loved the game. I LOVED THE GAME! I LOVED the game! Gotten the picture yet? At first this game was great, and touch-screening and shouting into the mic was a great experience (this was the first game I played on DS). Soon, however, the game became a headache. I mean, yeah the difficulty was VERY well worked out, but it's always this huge maze with a dining room, a lounge, a kitchen, and traps scattered all about. The family members wander the house and will hit you in the face if you don't watch out. Sounds fun at first, but it gets repetitive. There are certain missions where you need to find an objective item and bring it back to HQ, and others where you have to collect 20 of (this) before time runs out. You get a wide arsenal of gadgets to help you out, but that's it. There are three playable characters: Hammy is fast but weak, RJ balances speed and strength, and Verne is a tortoise... literally. I mean he's slow and strong, okay?

Audio
8/10
*Chokes on milk* The audio and voice acting is brilliant. Usually, the only video game songs that play in my head full of air are from Square's games, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, sometimes Jak 3, and seldom other games. BUT NEVER HAS IT PLAYED MUSIC FROM A MOVIE GAME. Over the Hedge was a different case. There are some soundtracks which I hate, but one in particular was playing in my head for some reason. *Chokes on milk again*

Playtime/ Replayability
2/10
Re-pe-ti-tive. That's all to replaying.

Now, playtime is disappointing. Finishing around three or four levels nabbed me 10%. And having barely played over an hour, perhaps less, my game was standing at 50%. I'm afraid that's the problem with portable games. This one is shorter than some GBA games I've played. :(

Should I Buy It?
Rent it. It won't last long. But it WILL be frustrating. This game requires patience, but I'm at a loss of whether to give it 5/10 for it's sad gameplay and playtime, or 7 for its graphics and audio. But I certainly enjoyed the PS2 version better, no idea what to do...

Final Rankings/ Summary

Graphics: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 6.5/10
Audio: 8/10
Playtime/ Replayability: 2/10
Should I Buy It?: Negative.
Final Score: 6/10.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/07