Shark Tale

Once there was a little fish named Oscar who told a wee bit of a lie. The lie expands into something this street hustler did not want, and now Oscar is embarked on an adventure that is both exciting and deadly.

Dreamworks Shark Tale, from Activision and Edge of Reality is based on the upcoming animated feature film and offers up 25 missions that run the gamut of challenges from chases and combat to dance routines.

The game uses sound-alikes, not the actual voice talent from the film, but it is almost impossible to tell the sound-alikes from the real actors. While the film releases in October, Shark Tales is slated for release in September and will be available on all platforms – GameCube, PlayStation2, Xbox, GBA and PC.

With a dynamic soundtrack and a wonderfully animated environment, this is a game that will have broad appeal, but especially among the younger set. Some of the action demonstrated at a Pre-E3 Editor’s Day had a strong arcade-like flair. In one chase scene, Oscar appeared to be on a two-dimensional plane – horizontal and vertical – while being pursued from behind by a shark that was lunging forward, huge teeth snapping at our hero.

Reef City is awash with characters and music plays a big part in this game. Oscar will even be challenged to perform dance routines, in which players have to time certain control elements in the order given in order to accomplish the task, complete the level and more ahead.

Maintaining the visual integrity of the film, Dreamworks Shark Tale is upbeat, lively and fun in design. This is not a heavy game that will have players using death-grips on controllers, but rather a light-laugh, a broad-smile type of game that is a perfect fit for the gamer who seeks adventure without intensity. The game does have it’s share of challenges, though, and players could well find this tale of a little street hustling fish who matures into a shark hunter a heartwarming escape.