We know what you're thinking. How can you make a game out of a classic movie like "The Princess Bride?" Since its 1987 release, the film's popularity has grown exponentially, snagging number 50 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" list, and it's every bit as quotable as cult comedy classics like "Wayne's World" or "This Is Spinal Tap."
But comedies and love stories don't usually translate well into video games, right? Sure, The Princess Bride game features little in the way of impressive fights, but the world of video games is already replete with silly swords-and-sorcery epics; the last thing we'd want to see is for its game to toe the same old, hack and slash line. Instead, why not take a few of the voice actors from the movie, recreate some classic moments from the movie with slick, hand-drawn cut-scenes, and let us act out four or five of the movie's pivotal and (mostly) non-violent sequences?
...the game defies simple categorization. It's broken into five stages, each one taking its influence from a scene in the movie.
Happily, we're not the only ones to think along these lines. New developer Worldwide Biggies has opted to do just that with The Princess Bride. Their game features the voices behind Vizzini, Buttercup and Inigo Montoya, and although its gameplay is in line with pick-up-and-play games like Diner Dash and Madame Fate, its budget and production values are more in line with the $60 video games you see advertised on TV.
Appropriately, like the love-story-cum-adventure-cum-comedy-cum-cult-classic movie, the game defies simple categorization. It's broken into five stages, each one taking its influence from a scene in the movie. Although the segments feature completely different gameplay, they're all brought together in the final scene, where objects found at intervals throughout the game combine to make a Heath Robinson-esque siege engine to break down Humperdink's castle walls.
The Princess Bride brings together many of the most popular casual-gaming genres: time-management segments straight out of classic games like Burgertime, fun trivia questions, hidden-object searches, logic puzzles, and even a touch of approachable platform adventuring. Whatever style of game you're into, you're likely to find it here. Check our overview for complete details on each subgame.
The Princess Bride Image Gallery
Posted: 25 Jun 2008
