Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue

"Not for experienced gamers looking for a challenge, but definitely worth playing if you're new"

Simplistic games, especially those that have the "Disney" name attached to them, tend to be greeted with low reviews by both gamers and reviewers. Personally, I think a game should be judged upon its target audience and, regarding "102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue", I believe a little more credit is due.

If you've seen the movies, then you're aware of what to expect. You get the choose between playing the role of Domino or Oddball at the start of the game but, as far as I can tell, there are no differences in gameplay, so it's really just personal choice. The puppy you choose starts the game by breaking out of a cage where Cruella DeVille has trapped him (you get to see this on the opening cinematic). At this point, you get to jump and run throughout 17 levels, trying to release all of your puppy brothers and sisters, as well as your parents.

As you might expect, the GameBoy Color version of this is considerably different from the one for Playstation and Dreamcast. While they're all Platform games, this one is all in 2D, which actually makes the game far more playable as there's no camera issues to mention here at all. The animation is also a strong point of this game, and everything has a colorful cartoon look that fits the game theme and will please most eyes.

Sound is not the best, but it's above average. The soundtrack has enough variation between levels and, while most tracks are sort of forgettable, there are a few that do stand out mid-game. Too bad the last level, where you'll face Cruella herself, doesn't have the best of themes, but the upbeat song is still fitting and quite average in quality.

Gameplay is pretty basic. You use the B button to bark, which is your only "weapon" in the game, and you use the A button to jump. Left and Right are the only movement directions you can make in-game, while Up and Down is exclusive to the options menu and Password entering. At later stages in the game, when you're facing a switch, you can use the B button to make your puppy switch it on with his nose. That's pretty much all of the controls. Going a bit more in-depth on what your puppy can do, the Bark "weapon" doesn't kill anyone but it does stun most enemies long enough for you tu run past them. The exception to this rule is the level where you have to fight the Brothers in which case you have to bark several times until they "faint" and you can get the key that allows you to leave the level.

In fact, the whole game is about finding a generic key, which is hidden somewhere on the level, and then use that key to either leave the level or free your siblings from cages scattered around the level (the latter being the most common). In later levels, you might have to first find a switch that activates a platform which will then allow you to reach the key you want. As I said before, it's pretty simple and in my first time through the game I finished it in two days. It's possible to do it in one, if you have enough time in your hands, especially since the password system allows you to get back into the game at the last level you left off.

Once you beat the game, you get two new passwords, each for a mini-game but, sadly, these aren't nearly as entertaining as the game itself. The first mini-game is a "Match color" game. Basically, you get to see two "doggie paws" on screen, one is of a certain color, while the other is white. The objective is to match the two paws by moving three sliders (each representing Red, Green and Blue, respectively). The second mini-game is also a matching game, you turn two cards, and the image in them has to match. You have a time limit to match all cards on screen. That's it. You'd probably be better off, going back and start the game again with the other puppy you didn't choose the first time. The game will be the same, but you can then use you mad puppy skills to make Time Attack or something. Imagination will be your best bet here.

Anyway, if you're an experienced gamer, chances are you'll be bored with this game quickly. However, if you know of someone who's just getting into the world of gaming and you want to offer them something that won't be frustrating, "102 Dalmatians" for the GBC will be a great choice.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/06