Disney's Lilo & Stitch

"It's like Contra and Disney mated...."

I'm a huge fan of Lilo & Stitch. I loved the first movie and thought that the direct to video sequel wasn't too bad. I also enjoyed the Playstation 2 game but that's a different type of game all together. I wasn't sure if I would dig this game or not and I had no idea what type of game play this was going to offer and I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is simplistic and straight to the point. Lilo get kidnapped by an alien and Stitch sets out to find her while she looks for a way off of the aliens ship. It's not original but it works as if it was an episode from the tv show. I'd give the story a 4/10.

The control is simple and I had no real problems except when playing as Lilo which is just a very drastic change compared to Stitch, but maybe that's because Lilo can't do much more then hit buttons. The space missions play well also. I'd give control a 8/10

The sound is decent. The sound effects are sort of generic but the music is fun and Disney like. Nothing to write home to mom about but I enjoyed it and actually, there were a few songs I liked. I'd give sound a 6/10.

The graphics look like a subpar Disney cartoon. The opening movie looks horrid but the pictures look halfway decent. Lots of bright colors but some of the character look boring. I'd give graphics a 7/10

The gameplay is pretty cool. There are 3 Stitch levels which require you to platform hop and just shoot stuff. It's basic but it all plays like Contra. You have 3 bars of life and a small amount of lives. Some enemies can kill you in 1 hit but most take 3. Lilo's levels are sort of like mazes and I really didn't care for them. On the plus side, Lilo only has 2 stages. There are also 2 space ship missions ala a generic 2d Starfox or something. It was mildly entertaining. I found the game rather hard and I honestly died many times. The game is short, I beat it within a hour but it was a blast and it has a been a little while since I've played such a fun game. Oh and there are collectibles in the game like movies and pictures. Stitch also has a secondary attack which he has to pick stuff up to use, it's sort of like throwing a small grenade at an enemy. The levels are pretty to look at but there are only 6 or so levels. The bosses are kind of hard also. The last boss gave me a lot of trouble. I'd give gameplay a 8/10

The replay value isn't really high. The "hidden" items are really easy to find and the game is short, like I said earlier. On the other hand, it's a blast to play and I can honestly say I could pick this up on a boring rainy day and waste a hour having fun. I'd give replay value a 5/10

Final score would be a 7/10. Die hard fans of Lilo & Stitch should like it and maybe some Contra fans will like it as well. It's fairly cheap in stores at this point.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/05