Meet the Robinsons [PS2]

Computer-generated animated films have grown by leaps and bounds over the years, becoming one of the most prolific genres in cinema. Any kid-centric movie worth its salt has a video game tie-in, but herein lies another pattern: Movie-based games have gotten somewhat better recently as well. Disney's Meet the Robinsons isn't just a good game based on a film; it's a good game, period.

For those who see the movie (it, too, is pretty decent), you may have a rough time figuring out how Avalanche Studios crafted a video game out of it. Meet the Robinsons on the big screen is by no means action-packed, though its cast of characters is extremely compelling and the movie leaves you wanting to know more about them.

The game actually tap-dances around the events of the film, mostly focusing on how young Wilbur Robinson -- clever kid from the future -- ends up going back in time to meet his friend Lewis, rather than what happens when the two meet up. While Avalanche themselves wrote the story for the game, it's a really good expansion on the movie's universe, and clever to boot. The same actors reprise their voice-over roles, including names like Adam West, Tom Selleck, and the film's director Stephen J. Anderson. However, main character Wilbur's voice actor, Wesley Singerman, turns in the best performance of them all.

This is starting to sound like a movie review, so let's get into the actual game mechanics. Meet the Robinsons breaks up into two different sections: dungeon-like areas where you'll do lots of combat, and levels that involve more exploration and backtracking. Too much of one or the other could wear thin, but the game deftly balances things out. Wilbur finds a gaggle of gadgets to use: destroy obstacles with the Disassembler; shoot electricity with the Chargeball Beam; and dig underground with the Havoc Gloves. In a combination of Metroid and Katamari Damacy, Wilbur's scanner both feeds you information on objects in the world and dishes out clever descriptions.

These items are assigned to buttons on the controller (or d-pad directions with the Wii remote), and you can also swap them out with ease. Each one is used to its full potential, and enables various mini-games. The Havoc Glove opens up Dig-Dug inspired underground puzzles, while Charge Ball has a whole other (mildly frustrating and solely single-player) Breakout-inspired mode all its own. You'll also roll around in a large bubble -- which bears more than a passing resemblance to Super Monkey Ball. As you can tell, the mechanics in Meet the Robinsons aren't exactly original, but they're all well done.