The Corner - Week 5 - Luke Reviews Disney Universe

Now that Disney Universe is out around the world I thought, that since I own the game it would be a good idea to review it in the first A113Animation console game review:

Storyline

I like the way Disney Interactive have tried to craft a story line, but, alas, it doesn't really show much in the game. The main storyline is about the Disney Universe being taken over by evil and you have to save different characters from major Disney/Pixar films. So, while the motivation is there, it just felt a bit lacking in the continuation of the story. Although it is fun to collect characters, I would have thought they would have given the user more than one character from each movie to start off with- I get the idea, it just comes across as a tad underdeveloped. Which brings me onto my next topic:

Characters

The characters are part of the main story, you collect them as you complete each location. Unfortunately you have to play the levels twice to unlock every character. So, if you're a person who hates replaying the same level over and over than this game isn't for you. The look and quality of the characters is outstanding. They  really make the game feel like your in a Disney/Pixar movie and are just a joy to play as, making you really feel like part of the action. There are over 30 characters in the game and around 25 of them are to unlock.

Cut Scenes

Now I wanted to add this section in (rather than just including it in the story section) because the cut scenes are absolutely hilarious. Like any of the many LEGO game you have those stupid cut scenes that mean nothing to the game and are only added just to make the game seem livelier, and they succeed. They'll make the game better for the little kiddie target audience, but also sustainable for older users.


Music

WOW. One word to describe the beautiful sounding music in the game. it uses the music from the original Disney/Pixar movies and adds a modern up beat to it. It makes the game play more manageable, hearing some relaxing music even though I'm shouting at the TV screen because of those stupid mini games that make the game what it is.


Personal Comments

My personal opinion is that it's a good game, but that it can become frustrating to play after a while. I love the animation and the backgrounds which make the levels really stand out. The music is the best part of the game for me, but, overall, it's a fun game to play - you just have to be a patient type of person.


Thanks for reading. Next time I will be reviewing Merry Madagascar.

The Corner - Week 1 - Luke Reviews Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Right, let's kick off Week 1 of the newly revamped Corner with a review from the originator of The Corner, Luke - also, today will feature a triple bill of reviews, so keep your eyes peeled for Heather and Sean's respective reviews in the next few minutes.

I have recently watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs for the first time and have to say that the movie is quite inspirational. It's a story about a young inventor, Flint Lockwood, who always wanted his inventions to be big and, one day, that dream comes true. But he soon finds that it isn't all as he imagined it, as, one day the invention starts to take a turn for the worse when the machine overloads. Leading to a bizarre, brilliant and utterly random food-disaster movie.

One thought that came to mind while watching this film was "I wish you could get pizza that big" but, seriously, the film was brilliantly animated, had a tremendous plot and features some well know actors voicing the characters, including Bill Hader, Mr.T, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson and Anna Faris.

Although the film is hardly the most original or groundbreaking film in the world, being largely a rehash and imitator of so many DreamWorks and Pixar films; it has a surprising amount of heart, a love story that we are genuinely invested in, some great characters and is a very fun film.

My favourite part of the film had to be the moment where they're on the side of the canal and Flint kicks Sam Sparks in the eye, this being one of many examples of what made this film so great to watch, the utter randomness!

Overall I give it 8/10

Ups: Story, animation and very funny and random

Downs: Hardly very original

Thanks for reading,
Luke

Luke's Corner Update - The Corner

Due to unresolved scheduling conflicts, Luke is unable to fully commit to Luke's Corner - many of you will have noticed the erratic posting of reviews - and his responsibilities for the blog will therefore be scaled back. Luke will still be posting reviews, but to a time-frame much more suited to his needs.

But this isn't to say that Luke's Corner will be no more, instead we now have a team of reviewers who will take it in turns to review a much wider variety of animated films - bringing more diversity to the blog. Luke's Corner will now be know as simply The Corner and we are very happy to welcome two new reviewers aboard to contribute their own reviews: Heather Medley and Sean Taylor.

Heather and Sean, who have now joined the team, will, like Luke, write reviews of as many animated films, from as diverse a background, as possible and will bring a much more diverse feel to the blog - in case you occasionally tire of my reviews. Heather and Sean, who are both very competent and diligent will, along with the originator of the corner, Luke, try and bring you a review every week or so.

--

Now, Luke asked me to post the below message, to clarify his role on the site:

Hello followers of A113Animation. There is currently some dispute over the corner and from now on I am allowing a few other people to post blogs in it. Unfortunately it will no longer be called Luke's Corner, but I am still here and I'm ready. I hope everyone around the world had a great summer and there will be many more blogs to come, a lot more than I have produced in the past few months.

Thank you for reading this little note.

Luke

--

So, keep your eyes out, Luke will bring you a review of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs this weekend, and the next few weekends after that will be reviews from Heather and Sean.