Alice In Wonderland

Developer: Disney Interactive Studios Publisher: Disney Rating: 7+ Buy it now: Amazon

Recently we brought you a preview of the new Alice In Wonderland game. As we mentioned then, the game is one of the best we’ve seen on the DS for some time. Now EF can bring you the full review of this adventurous new title and tell you why you’d be better spending your time getting hooked on the game rather than watching the movie.

Alice In Wonderland is one of those games that comes along once in a blue moon. We’re always wary of licensed tie-ins but this one has taken us by surprise. Rather than try to emulate the film, the game is inspired by Tim Burton’s latest visual treat. This means that the storyline has similarities but the game doesn’t rely on you having seen the movie. You can enjoy playing this as a standalone game and if you’re not interested in the movie then it doesn’t matter one bit.

Taking control of the White Rabbit in the first instance (and other characters as you progress), you must solve a variety of puzzles and help Alice remain safe. You can opt for Alice to follow you all the time or ask her to wait whilst you clear the path – a feature we particularly liked about the game – and often you have to save her from the random appearances of vortexes and Red Knights. For the most part she skips along happily behind you but have to do some substantial baby-sitting to ensure she remains safe.

In terms of gameplay, Alice In Wonderland utilises the DS touch-screen admirably. Using the stylus you can direct McTwisp (the white rabbit) around the environments to explore what’s on offer and solve puzzles. Our only frustration with this game – sometimes the controls are a little clumsy. Solving certain puzzles requires you to speed up, slow down or pause time and to do that you have to press one of the DS buttons and tap the screen with the stylus. This isn’t easy and forces you to figure out how flexible your hands are in order to achieve it. This could have been a bit easier but to be honest it’s a minor complete about an otherwise superb game.

Visually Alice In Wonderland is one of the most striking games we’ve ever seen on the DS. Using a small palette of colours, the Underworld is created as a dark and unsettling place with only Alice really bringing any colour to the proceedings. The locations are basic and cartoon-like and this only adds to the atmospheric nature of the game.

As we said in our preview Alice In Wonderland is a strong title for the DS. Even if you don’t like the film (and quite a few critics are giving it a rough ride) then we’d still recommend that you try the game. If it’s a solid platform game that you’re after with taxing puzzles and an edge of menace then this is the title for you. Embrace the Underworld and go on a spine-tingling journey with Alice and her weird and wonderful friends.