Meet the Family
Editor's Note: This Xbox Dad column was written by Duncan "Festive Turkey" Mackenzie, father of two, co-author of Xbox 360 for Dummies, and the upcoming Zune for Dummies, and a member of the team over at www.on10.net.
Last Tuesday was the first FamilyGame Night on Xbox.com and the featured game, Walt Disney Pictures Presents Meet the Robinsons, has been a real hit around our house. My son Connor had been talking about the movie, Meet the Robinsons, for some time, so I knew he'd be excited to play an Xbox 360™ game based on the same characters. Although the movie just came out last weekend, I picked up the game a few days earlier and drove home, planning on setting it aside until after we saw the movie. I didn't want to spoil the show by playing through the whole story first on Xbox 360!
Well, that plan lasted all of an hour. The game looked too cool to ignore. We fired up the console, and through next-generation magic and the technical wizardry of time travel, we were running through an Egyptian pyramid moments later.
Traveling Through Time
Turns out, we didn't spoil anything about the movie by playing the game, because it isn't the same story, just the same characters. The events in the Meet the Robinsons game take us through adventures that we don't see in the movie, all the way from ancient Egypt to the distant future, and even deep underground.
The storyline of the game and the movie do intersect here and there, but clearly care was taken to make sure the game doesn't give away any of the movie's secrets. If your kids have seen the movie, the game becomes even more appealing as they'll recognize many of the people and places from the film. Even without the movie though, we had a blast playing through the first half of the game.
The game itself is an interesting combination of action and puzzle solving. The main character Wilbur runs, jumps, and climbs through a variety of environments using a slew of extremely cool gadgets, like a ray gun that turns objects into their component molecues, to stay on the tail of the bad guy.
Along the way, giant ants, robots, and more will try to stop you, but quick reflexes and technical wizardry will save the day. The puzzle solving aspects of the game makes defeating each level feel like an accomplishment, with some of the puzzles stumping both my son and me for more than a few minutes, while the action side of the game keeps things exciting and fast-paced.
Robinson Achievements
Throughout the game are a variety of mini-games, including Chargeball. This game, which reminds this Dad of the disc game from Tron, involves bouncing balls of electricity off of the walls, trying to score on your opponent.
You can play this game within a few minutes of starting the game as there is a Chargeball station right in Wilbur's bedroom, but later on you will need to win a series of games as part of the main storyline. Chargeball is also one of two mini-games that you can jump right into from the start menu of the game, so you can play at any time. As you play through the game, you can unlock other Chargeball opponents and courts.
There are several other mini-games as well, including one where you fire a meatball cannon, and a life-size pinball game called Protectosphere. Both of these mini-games, as well as Chargeball, are available in the Robinson house, the second level of the game, making a total of three mini-games available almost right from the beginning of the game.
Later on, you will find a pair of havoc gloves, which let you dig into the ground like a robot-fighting mole on steroids. The havoc gloves also let you play another series of mini-games throughout the game. These havoc puzzles involve digging through rock, squishing bugs with rocks, and figuring out the best way through mazes complete with explosions and lava. It's everything you could ask for in a game in one tight package.
We've tried our hand at one other mini-game: Security System. This is another mini-game you can jump right into from the Meet the Robinsons start menu, and it takes advantage of Xbox LIVE® connectivity to let you compare your score to your friends and other players online. Shoot for a high score while you defend the Robinson mansion against the Bowler Hat Guy and his army of floating bowler hats, all of which makes a lot more sense after you see the movie.
Family Time
We've been playing the game on and off since the first Family Game Night, and it seems like we have made it through quite a bit of the game, but there is still a lot of play left. From the description of the game, there are more mini-games for us to discover, and I know there is at least one more major gadget for us to discover (levitation, anyone?).
Check out my profile online to see how we're doing with Meet the Robinsons and other Family Game Night picks like Viva Piñata™ and Frogger. Dance Dance Revolution UNIVERSE (or DDR to all the cool kids out there) is coming up, too, but I'd rather you didn't check out my score on that one … it won't be pretty.
Have a question or comment for Xbox Dad? Shoot me an email xboxdad@microsoft.com or find me online!
Article by Duncan Festive Turkey Mackenzie
