How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

The last time we saw the Grinch on a Nintendo handheld was way back in 2000 when Jim Carrey's take on Dr Seuss' most famous festive creation spawned a number of tie-in titles. This was before the days of the DS though, with the humble Color running the simple but well received title. Over the years other festive classics have been brought to the GBA and DS including The Polar Express and this year's The Golden Compass. The Grinch is slightly different though and while (in Europe) its popularity rose considerably on the movie's release, it's something of an institution stateside. This game is based on the classic book and if, for some reason you haven't read it, you should probably do so as soon as you can, well, after this review anyway.

Gameplay

Almost all movie/tv/book tie-ins take their lead from a classic template and the 'off the shelf' solution here was the arcade classic Elevator Action and if you have ever encountered this very playable retro title then you'll know exactly what to expect. Back to The Grinch though and your main objective is to steal just about everything you can get your hands on, from gifts to decorations. You can even fit several Christmas Trees into your 'hold all'. It takes place in a variety of multi-floored houses which would be difficult enough even if they weren't populated by Whos, all of whom must be avoided. Fortunately the house is riddled with secret passages and hideaways (which make your job much easier) not to mention the fact that the Whos are rather predictable in their actions. While you can collect everything only the presents are required to move onto the next house, but there's still a great deal of satisfaction clearing the area of everything.

Collision with one of the many Whos will result in you losing a life. Lose three of these and you'll be forced to restart the level. Collide with a sleepwalking Who, or indeed Cindy Lou, and you'll be transported to one of a handful of mini-games. These are simple affairs and generally challenge you to select various objects before they get to a given point. One, for example, has you hitting sleepwalking Whos in order to send them back to their bedroom.

Controls

While the control system takes a little getting used to it is incredibly tight and you'll find that you can evade a Who with inches to spare. It is a little frustrating in some places though and we got caught on a few occasions attempting to creep up the stairs.

Graphics

While the visuals are far from what the DS is capable of this is based on a 1950s book and it perfectly replicates the style of the original illustrations. What is pleasing though is the animation of the Whos as they sleepwalk through the levels, it's just a shame that the same attention to detail couldn't have been given to the Grinch when he enters and exits chimneys.

Sound

While the music is perfectly pleasant it in no way reflects the on-screen action and you do get the impression that the audio was something of an after thought. Elsewhere the sound effects do their job but no more.

Dual screen

Other than selecting a variety of items or hotspots during the mini-games the touch screen is hardly used at all and you spend most of the time with your stylus tucked safely away.

Final comments

The Grinch could have been so much more and while the individual sections are reasonably entertaining there's not nearly enough variety over the levels. It all starts out well enough and removing the presents from right under the Whos' noses is actually very rewarding but once you reach the fourth or fifth house you'll be wishing for something more. There are some diversions provided by the mini-games but these are a little shallow and not very involving. It's certainly not the worst festive game we've seen but the Grinch almost got his way with this title.

Pro: Tight Control System.
Con: Repetetive Gameplay, Odd Soundtrack.
Final score: 5.2

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