Before I even say a word about it, let’s look at this on the most basic level.
This is a video game based on a movie based on a fictional video game.
Now, I’m not a game designer, but it would seem to me that a project like this is just
a no-brainer.
I mean, there’s a really obvious game waiting to be made here.
And for the purpose of my own sanity, I’m willing to ignore that it wasn’t made.
It’s completely baffling, but whatever, I can’t review a game that doesn’t exist.
But after playing this one, I kind of wish I could.
This is Wreck-It Ralph for the Nintendo 3DS, and you might say, “Oh, like the game in
that movie?”
And I’d say, “Well, kind of, but nowhere near as theoretically cool.”
Rather than take the made-up video game from the hit movie and turn into a real game with
a cool retro style...we get a real generic platformer.
Ugh.
I want to wreck it!
Anyway, Wreck-It Ralph is a very simple platformer.
You control both Wreck-It Ralph and Fix-It Felix, two characters from the fictional game
Wreck-It Ralph, as they try to vanquish the “bugs” that are destroying their arcade.
This translates into gameplay that’s perfectly fine for little kids, but way too boring for
anyone else.
The details are so self-evident and cliched that they probably don’t even warrant an
explanation, but nonetheless...Ralph is your strong character, Felix is the nimble one.
Ralph can break stuff, Felix can double jump and wall climb.
You can swap between them whenever you’d like to get through the levels.
Usually, there’s a sign that tells you when.
There are basically two practical problems with Wreck-It Ralph.
I guess the simple gameplay would be fine if the levels were fun to navigate, but they’re
not.
They’re a collection of platforms and crates with very little creativity—that’s the
first problem.
Secondly, there are only four worlds, each with a handful of levels.
So it’s both generic and short.
Not a great combination.
I get that a game like this is meant to be more of an advertising ploy than a creative
video game, and that’s fine...but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.
A game that actually did something with the Wreck-It Ralph concept would’ve at least
been interesting and fun.
Playable as it may be, this game is anything but.