Pap the Disney Gamer's Highlights: Tigger's Honey Hunt
System: PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PC
Developed by: DokiDenki Studio

You might be asking yourself "Wait. There are several Winnie the Pooh video games?" Indeed there are. The surprised reaction is to be expected. The Winnie the Pooh universe doesn't seem to lend itself towards a video game adaptation, but there has been many attempts at presenting A.A. Milne's ode to childhood nostalgia in digital form. For today's Winnie the Pooh week feature, I decided to talk about Tigger's Honey Hunt, originally released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64, PC and PlayStation, developed by DokiDenki Studio.

The story behind Tigger's Honey Hunt is that Winnie the Pooh is throwing a party for all of his friends, but needs a lot of honey to make it happen. Right after Tigger bounces on him, Winnie asks him to collect as much honey as possible. Tigger won't be alone in this mission. The rest of the 100-Acre Wood gang joins him in his quest for honey. Of course, they too have their own missions to accomplish.

In terms of gameplay, Tigger's Honey Hunt skews towards a younger audience. It is a straightforward platforming, goal based adventure title where the main objective is to collect honey pots. Each level contains 100 honey pots. As you traverse the levels, though, you find the other characters who ask you to complete missions, such as finding hidden objects.

The levels are presented in a 2.5 D manner. This means that while the visuals are in 3D, the gameplay and camera are set on a 2D plane, recreating the gameplay seen in classic games like Super Mario Bros. Alongside honey pots players can also collect four hidden photograph pieces. Doing that unlocks new pieces or artwork in the game's photo album.

Outside of the main game there are three mini-games where up to four players can join in. The first of these is Rabbit Says, a variation of the classic game of Simon Says. Pooh Sticks is the second mini-game, in which players drop sticks onto the river and see which one reaches the finish line. The third and final mini-game is Owl-Paper-Scissors, which, as the name states, is based on Rock-Paper-Scissors.

It's not exactly the deepest Disney video game experience, but it is very polished and perfect for the younger set.

The visual presentation is beautiful. Being an N64/PSone era video game, Tigger's Honey Hunt looks and feels like the classic book illustrations as well as the Disney films from the 1960s. Characters look a tad blocky, but resemble their animated counterparts greatly. The voice cast from various Winnie the Pooh projects return to voice the characters, most notably Jim Cummings as both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

All in all, Tigger's Honey Hunt provides solid entertainment for young Winnie the Pooh fans, and the young at heart. This game might not be the only Winnie the Pooh game out there, but it is one of the most memorable.