The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Yes, I know the references to the Lord of the Rings trilogy are certainly apparent. And why shouldn't they be. As of right now, Hollywood is snatching up (or already has) any big name literary book franchise that has to do with fantasy. Thanks to the umpteen billion dollars that Rings, Harry Potter, and most assuredly Narnia, will bring in there will be the obligatory video game licenses and lo and behold, here is one of them.

If you don't know the story (and I recommend reading the book series) Narnia is the story of four siblings, two brothers and two sisters, who when visiting an eccentric professor discover an alternate world while walking through a large wardrobe. There, the children discover that their presence is not just a coincidence but rather very important as Aslan, the benevolent leader (and rather large lion) of Narnia's lands, is waging war against the dreaded Snow Queen who is turning the land into perpetual winter. Not good. 

 
Four tickets to ride this ride please.

Now in this version of the game, players assume the role of the four children (and other bit characters) as they battle their way through the games version of various plot points. Playing as each character, one at a time, you run around the various landscapes, beating the snot out of the various bad guys that come after you as you try and complete your level. And while the game does feature a relatively easy leveling-up system, I, and probably you, will find the repetition to begin to drag on. Which just as it seems to reach its breaking point, the game manages to change things up just enough to keep you going. Whether it's doing battle with a boss character, or a pivotal plot twist, the game makes good on keeping you interested, only just though.

Of course half of that is because there is a certain amount of button mashing going on, and to some, that does have some appeal. But to others, you may find solace in knowing that you do beef up your individual statistics via four categories; Health Points, Willpower (enables special abilities), Strength and Dexterity. These categories are beefed up by acquiring Virtue points which in turn can be gained by defeating enemies, completing specific tasks and gaining the respect of the good creatures under Aslan's rule.

 
It's nice to know the Olson twins can still get work!

 Now the touch pad on the DS was really a forced issue. Just because the DS has these extra play styles doesn't mean the game "HAS" to use them. Case in point, the magic in the game is used with the stylus. Drawing on the touch pad if you will, but it could have been easier just incorporating one of the face buttons for the magic. Developers need to know that the increased processing power of the DS is enough to make games you can't make on the GBA. Forcing the issue on the mic and touch pad is just that, forced.

Now you may be saying to yourself, "Hey, this game doesn't sound too bad." "What's the deal with the score?" Well the game does have some shortcomings that I need to explain. For one, the game suffers from some pretty good lag anytime more then a few (like 3 or 4) bad guys come on screen. This does happen fairly regularly and it can effect how much you want to play the game. Next, the game isn't particularly imaginative or engaging, yeah, I know it's merely a use of license that was developed in order to catch a buck off the popularity of what should be a monster financial hit of a movie. But still, the game doesn't provide me with that certain chutzpah that I always look for in my games.

Gameplay: 6.8
The game is viewed from a sort of top-down perspective. The face buttons are right there for the mashing.

Graphics: 7.0
The cutscenes are done quite well, and even some of the character sprites look good. But the lag does kick in often and the fact that most of the game looks repetitious doesn't help.

Sound: 6.9
Where the background music does get on after a while, there is an occasional blip of audio quality.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
There is a certain amount of formulaic gaming going on. Once you get the more powerful weapons (which doesn't take long) you can pretty much blow through any bad guy that comes your way.

Concept: 6.0
Nothing new from the folks at Buena Vista Games here. You've played it before, and you have played better renditions. I should say though that I like the fact that there are both true-world bad guys (wolves, bears) and fantasy bad guys (Cyclops, minotaur), and it's kind of cool.

Multiplayer: N/A
This game requires multiple game cards to play the multiplayer aspect. This function was not able to be scored.

Overall: 6.7
It isn't spectacular, but there are moments of good gaming in here. Like I said, just when you reach your breaking point the game changes up just enough to make you continue. I guess the real question is where is your breaking point?