Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang have been delighting readers of the comics section in the newspapers for more than half a century, and have also scored big with award-winning animated TV specials among other things.  And now there’s a full-length computer animated Peanuts movie now in theaters (and it’s actually pretty good, I enjoyed it anyway).  So in honor of that, Activision released a game based on the characters and style of the new film.  In the game, Charlie Brown and his friends are playing hide-and-seek, and Snoopy and Woodstock must find them!  But Snoopy has a pretty vivid imagination, so a bush can become a jungle, a brick fence wall can be ancient ruins, a cardboard box can be a rocket to the moon, his doghouse can be a flying WWI biplane, and much more!  Guide Snoopy through stages inside his imagination and find all the kids in this 2-D platformer available for nearly all the current gaming consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.

Controls are pretty simple.  Snoopy can run and jump, and if you hold down the jump button while in the air, Snoopy will use his ears like a helicopter to glide down.  In the stages you’ll find keys that can open certain chests with costumes that Snoopy can don that give him special abilities.  As Beagle Scout Snoopy, you’ll be able to climb vines and use a compass to find hidden items.  Astronaut Snoopy can jump super high like he’s in very low gravity.  The Masked Marauder can break through certain walls, and Joe Cool can freeze enemies just by looking at them!  You’ll find lots of other costumes, too.  At the end of each world you’ll fight a boss and find a kid, but the bosses are pretty easy to beat.

The kids have left a trail of jellybeans behind, and there are 300 to collect in each level.  Also, you can find six Beagle Scout birds as well.  Supposedly, by finding them all you can unlock cool goodies, but there’s no way I’m getting all that to find out what they are.  The game is clearly aimed at a younger audience as the adventure is fairly short and easy.  If you get hit, you’ll lose a heart, but it floats above your head for a few seconds so if you can catch it, you’ll be OK.  Plus you gain one extra heart after completing a world, so the game actually gets easier as you progress.  A second player can join in as Woodstock to make the game even easier, as he can fly around and stun enemies and activate switches that move and stop platforms.  It’s too bad the game only supports Wii remote controllers for the second player.  While 2-D platforming veterans will find this game very derivative, younger players and less experienced gamers will enjoy this breezy romp.

Kid Factor:

Snoopy’s Grand Adventure is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Cartoon Violence.  Snoopy can stomp on enemies, but they just fall over with dizzy lines and a ‘bonk’ sound, and they’ll get up again after a while so watch out!  Reading skill isn’t needed as most everything has spoken voice, but knowing what each costume does in the instructions is helpful if you can read.  But it’s pretty simple to figure out by playing.  Again, this game is clearly aimed at younger gamers because it’s so easy and short. If you have kids who like Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, I also recommend seeing the new movie.  It’s a very cute G-rated film that stays true to the source material, and has lots of good messages.

If you are an older player who also wants a good Snoopy game with a bit more challenge, I recommend tracking down Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.  There are two versions of this game.  There is a single player version on the PS2, and a few years later there was a similar game with mostly online modes you could download on the Xbox 360.  If you can find them, I would try and play those as well.  I really liked them, anyway.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television