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GBA

North America

Over the Hedge

by Evan Burchfield - May 30, 2006, 10:25 pm EDT
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Licensed game on the GBA - ya rly.

Over the Hedge for the Game Boy Advance doesn't so much fail as it flounders – some facets of the game shine at the outset, but they quickly fizzle as repetition and boredom settle in. Since the game is a licensed portable title that was released as part of a marketing firestorm alongside multiple versions for other platforms and a major film, this is all par for the course.

Over the Hedge (OtH) is a top-down action game that includes puzzle-solving, action, sneaking around, and item collecting. It seems every licensed game is forced to indulge in these elements, and OtH doesn't attempt to innovate. Story is communicated through badly compressed stills from the film with text dialogue, some of which is quoted directly (the humor is lost, mostly). The story has pretty much zero significance to the overall presentation since the gameplay is homogenized from level to level. Each story segment begins with a character traveling through the woods; you must move logs and rocks, avoid thorns, and find the exit. This segment is not hard, though later on more and more logs and rocks are added to the same levels, adding more monotony than was already present. Once out of the woods and over the hedge, you must navigate through city streets filled with people and cars. If you are seen by an adult, you have to run or hide (by pressing the B button). Children apparently don't care if an animal is suddenly sentient and bipedal, so you can walk right in front of them; touching children, however, causes them to trip and cry, which totally defeats the purpose of being a fluffy happy animal.

After this street segment, you find yourself in a backyard that is inhabited by dogs, cats, and traps. You have to attack the animals, avoid the traps, and get to the house, where the last segment takes place: inside of the human domain, you must steal the cupcakes, hotdogs, and canned goods that have been recklessly placed on the floor, all the while avoiding the humans, who stand around in their living rooms, apparently waiting for a raccoon to run by with food in its hands.

These four segments each have their own problems: the street scenes are filled with people who walk back and forth on a line. When they see you, you can hit the B button to hide quickly, or just run away from them. Avoiding the humans is sometimes hard, but never fun. The backyard is a chore because while there are a lot of enemies to hit, the game lacks a satisfying battle mechanic. In the house, you must turn on appliances to distract the humans from their standing around routine, and this too is as boring as any other gameplay mechanism. A major game design issue is the speed of your character – each one walks by default, and runs by holding the A button. This is not so bad excepting that you have a fast-depleting stamina meter monitoring how often you can run. The developer has taken this feature a step further with the turtle character Verne who is slow even while running. To compound the issue even further, when a character is inside a house stealing food, he automatically tiptoes; holding the A button only allows him to walk, and his stamina still runs out! Stealing food may be this complex in real life, but I don't think realism is the game's pursuit.

The routine of woods, street, backyard, house is repeated too many times, plain and simple. Though many different styles of play are used in this meaty middle portion, they are all too simplistic. At the beginning of the game there are a few missions that don't follow this routine, and at the end there is a simple chase scene and boss fight. None of these are entertaining, but compared to the rest of the game they are utterly delightful.

Graphically, I must pause to commend OtH's fluid, rendered character animation. Following the Donkey Kong Country school of graphics, the characters are always bouncing around looking very similar to their big-screen counterparts; some of the animations are very beautiful, frankly. Even better, the sound of the game is great. While voices are used perhaps too much, the music is excellent. It reminds me of the high quality output of Rare in the 90s. Other than these two features, though, I don't think there's much to save this game from the licensed game bargain bin. Though it controls fine and seems to offer something substantial at first, I couldn't recommend it for adults or children.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
7.5 8 4 2.5 2 3
Graphics
7.5

For a 2-D GBA game, Over the Hedge stands out in character animation alone. Environments and enemies are bland, however.

Sound
8

Though the sound effects are generic, the few songs we get to hear are excellent and short. Some of the songs remind me of the great RareWare soundtracks.

Control
4

The control is simple, responsive, and really really slow. Half of the game's monotony is due to the speed of your character.

Gameplay
2.5

The first time you play through the game's simplistic structure, it seems fun. After the tenth time, it's awful, and you're not even halfway done.

Lastability
2

There are a few items and upgrades you can purchase, as well as a “level editor" that doesn't edit levels but just allows you to pick which woodland, street, backyard, and house you want to play. The game overstays its welcome the first time through, so the lack of replay value is a blessing.

Final
3

The game works for about ten minutes, then becomes very boring and sometimes too hard even on the middle difficulty setting. Not fun for any period of extended play, not even for kids.

Summary

Pros
  • Fun spunky music
  • Great fluid graphics
Cons
  • Character movement is painfully slow
  • Repetitive gameplay
  • Short and painful, like ripping off a band-aid
Review Page 2: Conclusion

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Genre Adventure
Developer Vicarious Visions
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Over the Hedge
Release May 09, 2006
PublisherActivision

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