Films games are very rarely successful. To whom, if not for me, to know about it? After all, for the rest of the year I have been doing that I sleep, feed deer and play and game. Khm-km ..
I want to show you a game that, with its very existence, evokes the atmosphere of Christmas, fabulousness and allows all adults of the globe to become children again. "Polar express" guys! "Polar express"!
Chapter I: "Magic and Wizards"
I’ll start from the nasty – from the background.
A video game about our magical train, based on the cartoon "Polar Express" born in 2004. The director of this cartoon was the unique Robert Zemeckis. We are similar to him, because he, in a sense, is also a wizard who gives joy to both children and adults. But more than adults. Pictures of this person are always saturated with deep meaning and indescribable atmosphere. Zemeckis did not take up cartoons until the zero years of the Sigo century. But such beauties “House-Monster”, “Beowulf”, “Christmas History” and “The Secret of the Red Planet”-this is all his work, somewhere completely, and somewhere only partly. Robert also acted as a director of films such as “Forrest Gump”, “Outcast”, “Crew”, “Back to the Future”, “Who substituted the Roger’s Rabbit”, as well as the new “Crew”. This great man made a childhood of many, many people.
Small interestingness. The first picture is Scrooge from Express, the second is Scrooge from Christmas History. Most likely the image of the second scrudge Zemeckis borrowed from himself.
In turn, Robert in the film adaptation of the Polar Express took the basis from the book of my close friend Chris van Allsburg with the same name. Here is someone, but Chris never got into the list of bad children. Moreover, with his imagination and fantastic stories, he literally raised new good children. He owns the books "Jumanji", "Potura", "Two hooligan ants" and many others. He loves a lot of fairy tale to invest Chris in his works. How many memories are associated with these fantasies, how much good morality of them can and should be taken with you.
And here is the great Chris van Allsburg
As for the game, it was developed by a modest Blue Tongue Entertainment Elves team, and was already released by the THAC for Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PS2 and for PC in 2004 just after the cartoon release of the cartoon.
The Polar Express had a brilliant source, a great film adaptator, but what kind of game the developers that did not stand out on this story gave us in this story?
Chapter II: "Good luck"
Some years five https://plaza-royal-casino.co.uk/ to eight years ago, video games by cartoons were widespread. They were made, most often, in order to earn extra money. And very often the kids, looking at the excellent animation, asked me to give them a video game for this cartoon. Of course, there were children joyful from receiving such a gift, the game gave them unforgettable additional hours with their favorite heroes, but much more often the children decided not to ask me for a video game anymore.
Some developers in their interpretations decided to bypass the work that are going on in the cartoons, making their new adventure, taking the decorations and models of the heroes as a basis, but there were others who completely repeated the story shown on the screen, making it interactive.
With the "polar express" it happened. The guys from the blue tongue completely borrowed the story from the animation, however, the game is connected with the film very marginally.
How do I, kids, told you, the game came out on several platforms, but the assessments of these games, which for the PS-2 (where the game failed most likely due to EYETOY support), which for Gameboy were unsatisfactory.
Here are the assessments of critics for this game for different platforms
… with the exception of the PC version. Computer scientists got a pretty average game. You and Grandfather Santa and look at her.
Chapter III: "History that is not a sin to wrap in packaging"
The book and cartoon "Polar Express" do not represent us a typical story, where both I and Christmas are like the second Princess of Pich, who should be saved.
No. We are telling about a boy who stopped believing me, but, nevertheless, dreamed of hearing the ringing of my sled bells. And so, on Christmas night, this boy was lucky to take a train that goes right to my beautiful house, North Pole, on the road to which the hero was waiting for adventures, fairy -tale landscapes and friends.
What did the developers create with history? They left it, but very, very cut it, leaving only part about the adventure. Alas, in the game you will not find that morality, those beautiful images that were in the original sources. There will be no simple truth about the fact that sometimes you just need to believe in a miracle. “Sometimes to believe, you need to see. But sometimes the most important thing in this life cannot be seen, ”said the character of Tom Henks in the cartoon, the train conductor.
But whether a video game was needed at that time? “No,” the players decided and left only the most basic in their history. But, I will tell you as a hero of many fairy tales, in vain they did it. History has lost its integrity, has become very fragmented, and if, without looking at the film itself, you can simply understand anything.
However, a little of his Blue Tongue brought in history. Now the heroes have the main antagonist – the Scrooja doll, who herself does not believe in Christmas, and wants to steal tickets for all the kids so that they do not get to Santa’s grandfather. In general, the first half of the game is being held on these tickets here.
The plot itself is presented to us in a very fragmented form. Those moments of the plot that were in the cartoon shown by clippings from the cartoon itself, and the fact that the scriptwriters of the game were added by themselves – on the engine of the game itself. It does not look very appropriate, given that the schedule itself is very, very average in comparison with the second-speed, which was a CG-multfilm with the most beautiful animation. However, it is worth giving the developers the due: the most striking and impressive moments from the film were cut out so that the player could later enjoy the animation (but you cut me out of the game (. ), teaching Uncle Sante Great Bo-Bo’ka).
A game of 6 chapters is divided, each of which represents your attention the road of plot episodes, according to which the heroes make their way to the North Pole.
Chapter IV: "Winter Games"
But the game does not recommend himself as a game with a famously twisted plot.
Polar Express is an interesting arcade that combines a variety of mini-games twisted into a single story. And there is a mini-igor there, that I have elves: from racing to puzzles and even rhythmic games, where you need to repeat the movements of the dancers.
These mini-games are bright and memorable, which is only worth the game in snowballs with a giant puppet-scrudge. There are also really complex games that force the child to ask for help from parents. These very levels of the game certainly delay both adults and children, all are diverse in gameplay and even stylistics.
The bottom line is this: the first half of the game you study the train, go through its narrow corridors, avoid and get scared of the puppets of the scrudge and later they give you out of the train – the game becomes more mobile, the locations are larger and harder. By the way, about the difficulty, which is worth only the level with the pursuit of the roof of the train, where it is impossible to win in vain. Mrs. Klaus and I reinforced the level more than once, before we understood that it would not work out to get to the goal.
Here is an example of some mini-games
And this is the same level on the roof of the train
But the number of attempts is also limited to us. From the very beginning, five lives are given to us, in each of which we can skip five strokes. But, given the complexity of some levels, five lives for the whole game, we would definitely not have enough for us, so the developers, on the advice of one good of me, were introduced to the levels of coins, which in the amount of 20 pieces gave the players additional life. In total, Mrs. Klaus and I, during the game, gathered a maximum of 9 lives during the game, but after that their number could fall and up to three. The developers very generously scattered these coins.
But not as generous as additional items. In the whole game you can collect as many as 7 toys (otherwise, I do not give you enough, you see). Each toy is divided into details and scattered at different levels of its chapter. Gather one toy – a bonus game will open, which can be turned on from the main menu. And this is another indisputable plus of games. Some mini games are very interesting, and in the story company they are devoted to them very little time. Searching toys and breaking records in additional games is very well diluted by the gameplay, giving the opportunity to sit in the game for another couple of hours.
Chapter V: "Summing up"
A game about the road to me, to Santa Claus, is cold in the atmosphere, but very warm game. It was simply created so that after or before watching the cartoon, adults and their children spend a couple of beautiful pre -holiday evenings in it. The Polar Express is imperfect, but it will give that a foreboding of the holiday that takes the lack of snow outside the window (Rudolph, my Reindeer deer, in Russia that, for the second year in a row, there is no snow for the winter holidays?! So take him to him as soon as possible!).
Anyone who remembers this game, and everyone who still lacks at least grains of winter, this game will remind you of how these wonderful holidays took place in your childhood.
Maybe you no longer believe in me or in the spirit of Christmas and New Year, maybe you are the same adult for whom the Santa Bell, Santa has stopped sounding, but the fact that you do not believe in something does not mean that this does not exist. Remember this more often, and perhaps someday you will hear that beautiful sound of the bell.
Pros: An interesting gameplay, a beautiful festive atmosphere;a picture, because of which at least I do not want to tear out an eye;pleasant memories.
Cons: A strongly simplified plot, the absence of some episodes (like a scene of the train crossing the thickness of the ice.