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By Keith B (18th Feb 2008)

Do you have to be between five and 13 to enjoy the Avatar cartoon? The answer is absolutely not! I realise I am quite immature and moderately hyperactive, but I am pushing 30 and I still reckon it is top notch. The big question is one that we usually ask before we play spin off games:is the game any good, or is it (as per usual) completely sub-par and living on the fact that its cartoon has a following?

Before we delve into answering that crucial question we should probably talk about the plot a little. For those not familiar with the Avatar series, the story is about a young monk who was born with the ability to ‘bend’ the four elements (earth, wind, fire and water). Usually the four nations (determined by their ability to bend the elements) live in peace and harmony, but the fire nation got a little greedy and attacked the other three starting a war that has lasted 100 years. Unfortunately the Avatar (Aang) who usually keeps the power balanced, had been frozen in an iceberg since the beginning of the war. When he is discovered by a cute little water bender and her brother, the time to fight back has come and he must train his skills to bring peace back to the world. Aang also has a flying bison and an overly enthused flying lemur to help him (and his friends) out.

This game is set in chapter two of the series and follows the cartoon episode for episode. I don’t mind this aspect too much as it lets the player experience the actual story first hand, rather than an off-shoot plot designed specifically for the game. Basically, the goal of the game is to develop your ‘earth bending’ skills and help defend the Earth Nation against the devious and non-compromising Fire Nation.

For the most part you play as Anng, but you are always with another member of your gang. During a level you can swap between either character to fight, move or solve puzzles. Often you have to utilise the specific skills of the partner character to get past a tricky situation, while the computer controls the other. In two player mode the computer control is negated. The mix of battles and puzzles is quite good, and should entertain the target demographic.

The POV (point of view) in the game is frustrating at times. There is no camera or pan control, so you are stuck with the default chasing camera. There are areas behind blocks and around corners where you just have to assume you are in the right spot or doing the correct move to advance. Considering the timing and animation issues, this POV aspect really makes life difficult unless you have memorised the pattern of movement used by the characters.

As I mentioned above, there are serious timing and animation issues with the game that makes some areas, in particular the boss fight stages, almost pull-your-hair-out annoying. Because of general recovery lag and choppy animation between moves it takes way too long to recover after a power/special move and leaves you very open to an attack. This alone you are able to forgive as it is a matter of adjusting your timing, however the recovery rate for the bosses is a lot faster, and the same rules seem not to apply.

The biggest flaw in the game is the graphics themselves and the general animation in gameplay. The characters are very unrefined and look quite jagged and pixellated. I realise that the game was more than likely designed for the new generation consoles then adapted for the PS2, but something tells me they have simply taken the original blueprint and subtracted enough from it for it to work on the lesser format. Apparently the first things to cop a hiding were the character rendering and speech animation (or lack thereof)! These two aspects make the overall finish look very second rate and really pushes the limits of what a cartoon spin-off game can get away with. They have even cut the graphics in the dialogue boxes, which look very shabby.

To be honest, even the backgrounds, sound and cut scenes are very ordinary. I really think that the only saving grace for this game is the story line itself which, as we have already established, is not original and taken directly from the cartoon.

Difficulty wise, the game is pretty damn easy and really shouldn’t pose too many issues for any gamer of any age. Having said that there are some areas that you will have to have a couple of cracks at. These are the segments that require precise timing – like jumping between long distances from moving platforms. The only real reason that this poses some level of trickiness is that once again the animation issues come into play along with the POV. It is always difficult to jump exact distances when you can’t tell how far you are away from the edge of a platform. You have to relax, take a deep breath and use the force!

Having just pointed out the flaws of the game, I have to say that I did find myself entertained. The only reason behind this is that, as I mentioned at the start of the article, I enjoyed playing through the game as it followed the episodes in the show. I found myself playing to get to an episode that I enjoyed more than the next and so-on. The premise that the gameplay is based on is very good and perfect for the young audience, however I don’t think this is a good basis to go out and buy the game. I think I can safely say this one is for fans only, and because of that aspect alone I am sure the game will see a decent profit!