Pap the Disney Gamer's Highlights: Tangled: The Video Game

Developed by: Disney Interactive

System: Wii/Nintendo DS

Would you believe it has been almost three years since Disney's Tangled came to theaters? Despite the troubled production and the controversies it endured prior to its release, the film has seen incredible success. This has been thanks to the amazing mix of humor, action, adventure and romance, making it a classic Disney film in a modern coating. At the time of its release, a game based on the film was released for both the Wii and the Nintendo DS: Tangled: The Video Game.

Tangled: The Video Game follows the story of the film very well. Starting around the scene where Flynn Rider escapes from the kingdom, he finds a tower in the woods that holds Rapunzel, a young maiden with very long hair that holds a secret of its own. When they meet, they come to the agreement that Rapunzel will return the crown if Flynn can take her to see the floating lanterns. From then on, the game has Rapunzel and Flynn exploring the forests, encountering various enemies and discovering the towns on their journey to the kingdom of Corona.

Players take on the role of both Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Much like in the feature film it is based on, each character have unique sets of abilities that will help them escape the various perils that lie in their journey. Rapunzel can use her long hair to swing to high places, attack enemies and solve puzzles, while Flynn Rider uses melee, hand to hand combat. Of course, frying pans also play a role in how the characters defend themselves. Rapunzel can also use her magic hair to help herself and Flynn out of tough situations.

Aside from that novel idea, Tangled: The Video Game is a standard license video game release, released exclusively for Nintendo platforms. Visually it does a good job of portraying the film. It opens on a stunning painting cutscenes that describes the plot of both the film and the game. Character models are pretty good, but due to the lower power of the Wii and Nintendo DS, it does lose some of the lush details the film proudly shows off.

Wish more could be said about Tangled: The Video Game. It is a straight forward licensed game based on an amazing feature film. It is fun enough that it avoids some of the issues licensed games are known for. But if you are expecting something more out of it, then you might be disappointed.