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Shark Tale Review - PS2

Just as society's obsession with Finding Nemo begins to die down, yet another cast of computer-generated sea creatures splashes up from the depths of the children's movie ocean. Shark Tale has just been released in cinemas, and a bit too early in my opinion; I'm still getting it confused with the little orange Clown Fish's adventure of last Christmas. Anyway, keeping in line with the other blockbuster children's movies, such as Shrek 2 and of course Finding Nemo, Shark Tale is accompanied by a game of the same name. Though it's not as good as Shrek 2's game counterpart, Shark Tale's still manages to slither past the pit of movie-to-game conversion death.

Gameplay

Shark Tale focuses upon Oscar, a fish played by Will Smith in the movie. Throughout the game you play as the small but wild fish, and each of the mini-game style levels is based upon a particular happening in his life. For example, in the second level Oscar is thrown out of his apartment by the grumpy landlady, and it's up to you to circle each of his possessions to secure them as they're tossed from the windows. Not long after, Oscar attempts to impress a few females by dancing to M.C Hammer's Can't Touch This; here, the game takes on a typical dance game form, in which you must tap various directions on the D-Pad as they pass by the middle of the screen at almost impossible speeds. Later in the game Oscar is confronted by a massive Hammerhead shark, and in comedic style you're left to thwack the beast with Oscar's clenched fins, all the while dodging attacks thrown by the shark with its mouth gaping and its razor-sharp teeth shining. You'll also come across racing levels in which Oscar pilots a more speedy fish, following a marked trail of bubbles in order to win the race. Tapping the L1 or R1 button allows you to roll to the side, knocking out any trailing enemies such as thugs that'll pickpocket your precious pearls.

In addition to the types of gameplay that feature in Shark Tale mentioned above, you'll come across more adventure-style levels, too. Unfortunately, though, they, also, are basic and undeveloped; they're played from the side in a side-scrolling fashion, though the camera occasionally swivels round as you turn a corner by tapping X next to a street sign. As you play through these levels dodging enemy ocean life such as crabs and electric eels, you have to carry out certain objectives such as retrieving stolen pink pearls and waking up Paparazzi fish to get them to take a photo of you. As the game is obviously meant for younger gamers, those of us who are older will breeze through these levels, dodging enemies and traps with ease. Making it even easier, every few metres or so there's a door for you to enter where residents will feed you scraps to replenish your health. In addition to carrying out objectives in ... (continued next page)