Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat Review

The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house and played Cat in the Hat all day.

Vinvendi Universal Games has brought us this title based upon the upcoming movie The Cat in the Hat. Whether or not it is just a quick game to gain some more money off of the franchise or not, a well produced game is the question.

This game, being geared towards younger gamers, has simple game play. When you start The Cat in the Hat, you are inside of a house. This is where you will choose which level you will play at. Once you have entered a level, the game play is just simple platforming action. The Cat’s main line of defense and offense is an umbrella. He uses it to capture enemies in bubbles and then blast them, he uses it to glide, as a shield, and last but not least for an umbrella slam. The Cat has solid moves, but often it does not take much to get through the levels. For example, during the first bonus level that you play, you can keep running and firing bubbles and get through it easily. Though this is not always the case, seeing how the levels get progressively more difficult, but still lack challenge.

I am going to come right out and just say it, the graphics in this game are horrible. It looks like this game could have been put on the PlayStation. The backgrounds of the game look good (considering the graphic quality) and are usually interactive, such as the snowmen in the freezer level that will throw their heads at you. The enemies straight out of Seussian world are original of course, but over-used. You will see the same enemies in pretty much every level, and maybe every level you get a new one, needless to say, you get tired of them.

The music of this game fits the crazy levels in which you will be playing in. The game also features the actual voice actors from the upcoming movie. Whether that is a good thing or not I am not sure, because after hearing so many puns, I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to hear Mike Myers again. Granted some of the lines were funny the first time, but after the fiftieth time, I just felt like hurting some one. The sound though, was one of the better parts of the game and didn’t have any flaws in it other than the fact that it will eventually annoy the crap out of you.

Dr. Seuss was the master of creativity, but this game just didn’t follow in his footsteps. The story behind this game, is that the children, Conrad and Sally, were stuck inside, because it was a wet and windy day; therefore, they are stuck inside with nothing to do, but listen to their baby sitter snore. Then the Cat in the Hat shows up with his big red box full of Seussian magic. Then Mr.Quin, the nasty neighbor next door, tricks Conrad into opening the box and releasing all the magic. Well, Mr.Quin takes off with the lock to the box, so it is up to Cat to gather all the magic again and get back the lock. Pretty much all you have to do is follow around Mr.Quin through each level and collect all the magic and then just go to the next level. Does this sound like much of a story to you?

Besides the fact that a lot of the concepts in this game are over used, the bonus levels are pretty much repeated in concept, just changed around a bit. You are either running down a spiral away from a round object, flying in a balloon and trying to get to the top of the level, or you are trying to avoid some object (a fire wall, laser beam, or whatever applies to the level) while you run to the crystal at the end. Now, don’t get me wrong but the concepts for the bonus levels are over used, along with the enemies.

There really is no replay value in this game. Once you have played through each level, there is not much of a point going back and playing again. The only reason you might have to replay the levels, is to collect every thing in the level, but I didn’t have any trouble doing that the first time.

This game is definitely a decent game. I would say that it would be a great game for younger gamers, but anyone looking for a serious challenge should pass on this one.