If you ever wondered what happened before the
movie then the Game Boy Advance version is your game. The game tells the story
of the first encounter between Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie. Some strange
and unusual bugs have started to invade Halloween Town and Jack finds out that
the bugs are controlled by Oogie Boogie. Oogie Boogie is determined to take
over Halloween Town and it’s up to Jack and his friends to save Halloween from
Oogie Boogie.
At E3 2005 the game was on display for the Game
Boy Advance. The game is a side scrolling game that is fairly common for Game
Boy Advance games. The visuals of the game look good but don’t push the Game
Boy Advance to its limits. Jack looks good but his animation is a little bit
choppy at times. The background graphics are good and set the tone of the game
being set in Halloween Town.
The action in the game is simple with one button
for jump and another button for action. The levels I played seemed easy enough
for a side scrolling game on the GBA. You ran around, ducked to avoid enemies
flying high at you, jumped on platforms & ladders and then fired weapons to
destroy monsters. There was weapon that I thought was funny to use, a frog that
would shoot out gas and other frogs.
Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King will
probably be a game for younger fans. The gameplay is simple enough for younger
gamers to play while older gamers probably won’t find the game very
interesting. But if you’re a fan of the movie then you still might want to pick
the game up since it is a prequel to the movie. Look for the game in October
2005 just in time for Halloween.
