The Incredibles (GC) Review
The
Incredibles
A
Journalistic Review by DefiantParrot
Originally Written 8/16/2017
*Spoilers May Be Ahead*
Developer: Heavy Iron
Studios
 |
| (1) Please Be Good |
Platform: Nintendo
Gamecube
Genre: Action-Adventure,
beat’em up
Release: October 31,
2004
Movie tie-in video games
have a reputation, a well-deserved reputation for being bad games. Cash grabs,
churned out just to make some extra bucks off the popularity of the movie. It
wasn’t always like this and there are exceptions but too many times have gamers
been burned by these to not be cautious.
Today’s game is also a
movie-tie in, however it’s a tie in to a movie that in theory would make a
fantastic game… in theory.
 |
| (2) Looking good Helen |
Pixar makes fantastic
movies and in my opinion their best is The
Incredibles. A superhero movie done extremely well The Incredibles is the Fantastic 4 movie we all deserved and with
its sequel coming next year I figured now was the best time to see if The
Incredibles video game is as good as it’s movie. Or at least half as good, I’d
take that too. I know how these things usually go but this isn’t just a tie-in,
it’s also a superhero video game! How can you mess that up?
The game follows the
events of the movie, so there will be battles against the intimidating
Omnidroid and adventuring through Nomanisan Island just like the film.
However unlike the
film there’s barely a plot in this game. While it does follow the events of the
movie and uses cutscenes from the film to progress through the levels they do
an extremely poor job in informing the player of what the hell is going on!
Mind you after seeing
the movie I could follow this easily, but to anyone who hasn’t this will be a
confusing mess. Now mind you the game was released before the film so I can
understand not wanting to spoil the plot of the film, but there had to be a far
better way to do this.
The Incredibles has
several different gameplay styles in it as well, which I believe makes the game
extremely uneven.
 |
| (3) Can't Touch This! |
For most of the game
you will be controlling the titular Mr. Incredible who you play as for 12 of
the 18 levels in this game. As Mr. Incredible your gameplay will consist of
battling several goons and solving very minor puzzles with equally minor
platforming sections sprinkled throughout.
Mr. Incredible
controls pretty well he can punch to attack his enemies, grab them and various
objects to use as projectiles and through defeating enemies and gathering
pick-ups he can build up a second meter below his health bar and perform an
Incredi-Move! These can be a super powerful punch or leaping and smashing the
ground etc.
Before speaking on the
other characters I have two complaints, the first is solely for Mr. Incredible.
There were many occasions I would attempt to pick up an object and Mr.
Incredible just wouldn’t pick it up, it’s as if the item can be picky on how it
wants to be picked up. I’m not sure what’s going on with it, but I can say it
lead to many frustrating moments and a few deaths, particularly against the
Omnidroid.
My second complaint is
the camera. While not absolutely dreadful I had a few occasions where the
camera would lose it’s fucking mind and either get stuck and not want to move
no matter how much I tried, or would move even when my hand was nowhere near
the C stick, now these didn’t happen often but they still shouldn’t have
happened at all.
 |
| (4) Fuck This Fight, Fuck This Fight, FUCK THIS FIGHT!! |
Where the camera is
the worst however is during the first two fights with the Omnidroid. The camera
wants to focus on the giant black testicle the whole fight, and while that’s
fine for the most part. If you need to search for health in your little arena
it is absolutely painful fighting with the camera to try and see the other end
of the arena while it is doing its best to stay focused on the stupid black
ball as if it is an easily skittish centerfold in the middle of a photoshoot.
 |
| (5) Best Character in the game right here |
Anyway the other
gameplay styles involve Elastigirl A.K.A. Mrs. Incredible who controls much
like her husband and who is personally my favorite character to play due to how
much reach she has with her stretching powers. An enemy that would annoy me as
Bob I can easily defeat with Helen and that feels good! However she only has
three levels in the whole game!
Next is Bob and
Helen’s son Dash. As you would expect he has the superpower of being the Flash.
Dash’s levels are basically endless running sections, which remind me of the
Mach Speed sections from Sonic ’06. Don’t worry this game is nowhere near that
bad but a lot of Dash’s gameplay is trial and error. Getting to the next
checkpoint and messing up three to four times before reaching the next one.
 |
| (6) Padding padding padding!! |
But if you’re not a
fan of these don’t worry, there are only two Dash levels in the entire game and
one level just consists of him going to school… No seriously that’s a level in
this game!
But at least they
padded the game to give Dash more than one level, Violet only gets one! Jeez
who did she piss off? But maybe I shouldn’t complain much since Violet’s level
is the worst in the game.
To explain her level
is extremely easy, it’s Metal Gear Solid. Violet’s level is a stealth section
where her invisibility drains very quickly, she takes one hit and dies, and you
have no way of using her force field abilities. This is an extremely
frustrating level and just breaks the pace of this action game.
 |
| (7) Fuck This too |
So yeah there are
several different styles of gameplay on display here. My problem with this is this
game does none of these very well. Mr. and Mrs. Incredibles levels are okay but
nothing special, Dash’s levels are annoying and Violet’s level is a bad stealth
section for only one level. Oh and the ball sucks too.
 |
| (8) The game suffers from too many gameplay styles |
Oh and this is minor
but why can’t I play as Jack-Jack?!
Some of the
platforming in this game can be pretty tight with several times I just slid off
a platform to my death irritating me to no end, particularly in the Apartment Inferno level.
This game also has
knockback, which is as bullshit here as it was in Blood of the Werewolf. No, no
I don’t want to hear it, knockback is an extremely stupid way to add difficulty
to a game and in my opinion has no business being anywhere near my games.
Especially one released in 2004!
 |
| (9) I'm not paying for that |
Now I know it sounds
like I hate this game. I really don’t, it’s nowhere near as bad as others hell
not even as bad as Hercules. There are good things in this game.
First off the game
looks pretty good and I don’t just mean the scenes from the movie. In motion
the game looks pretty nice for a Gamecube title. While the character models can
look… off at times it’s not something that bothered me. The sound in the game
is also really good with music from the film and others sounding really good to
my ears.
The voice acting is
also okay, it is unfortunate that the only actor to be in this game is Samuel
L. Jackson and while he is and always will be awesome! Maybe the other actors
not returning are the reason why they focused so heavily on the movie clips.
 |
| (10) There's really no point to this mode |
There are collectibles
that can be gathered in the levels by all characters which unlocks concept art
and artwork to be viewed. Not something I really care about but could be
enjoyed by some. There is also a Battle Mode which can be unlocked in which you
take control of either Mr. or Mrs. Incredible and battle waves of foes until
you either die or finish the final wave. A nice edition for those who enjoy the
combat in this game however it would’ve been nice if finishing it unlocked
anything.
I finished it with
both characters and yes while you can collect some bonuses as you play they are
still just artwork. It would’ve been cool if it maybe unlocked a secret level
where you play as Frozone, or Syndrome. Oooh! Maybe as Jack-Jack destroying
Metroville! Hey I can dream can’t I?
 |
| (12) Yeah that's what I want!! |
The final highlight of
this game is of course the Cheat Codes. Man, just like Spider-Man it is
refreshing to go back to when these were prevalent in games.
Such as your typical
big head mode or turning on one hit kills after you’ve gotten annoyed at the
Omnidroid, which I did to finish the second boss fight with it. Leave me alone!
I Have no shame!!!
These can add some fun
and replayability to the game, although it’s worth stating there are other
better games out there that also have cheat codes.
All in all The
Incredibles video game was an extremely disappointing experience. And while
originally when I began writing this I was fighting with myself on what to give
this game. I want to give this game my Bronze I really do because I love the
movie so much and I really want to like this game. But this isn’t the movie
this didn’t bring me endless joy and numerous laughs. This game gave me several
headaches and a single tear for what could have been.
 |
| (13) You said it man |
And what’s most
important, it wasn’t fun to play for 90% of the time.
The Incredibles for
the Nintendo Gamecube receives no seal. It doesn’t even deserve Bronze.
This game also has a
handheld port and a sequel so maybe those are better. In time we’ll see however
I will not be holding my breath.
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