Still, whilst it would give most of us a heart attack if a CG children's film were to be released without a licensed game alongside it, Ubisoft has at least taken a different tack this time round, as the latest offender, Surf's Up, is more of an action/extreme sports title than the usual generic platformer. The game takes a tablespoon of Tony Hawk, a teaspoon of Wave Race and a heaping helping of penguins; and whilst that sounds like the recipe for the greatest thing in the history of the universe, it's not all smooth sailing... er, surfing.
Surfing is for the birds. Literally.
Rather than merely plod through the movie’s storyline, replacing key plot points with mindless fetch quests, Surf’s Up has you competing in the Big Z Memorial Surf-Off, where the characters battle it out on the waves to jump the highest, perform death-defying aerial stunts, and just generally “hang-ten.” Perform well, and you’ll progress through the tournament, unlocking new areas, courses and challenges. An ever-present wave allows a means for you to launch your character skywards and perform various stunts and combos which fill up the trick meter at the bottom of the screen, enabling you to perform even more impressive tricks. Along with a number of screen-shattering obstacles, various objects (icebergs, palm trees) give you a surface for grinding.
The primary mode of the game is Championship Mode, which pits you against other penguins in a race to the finish. There are a number of goals to aim for during the races, and passing just one enables you to move on to the next event. Successfully completing other goals gives you bonus content, including new boards and characters. Whilst simply unlocking all the levels is easier than shooting penguins in a barrel, getting high scores and unlocking the extra content is more of a challenge, though the rewards themselves aren’t much motivation.
Getting vertical with the vertical split-screen mode.
The controls are relatively simple to pick up, with the analog stick used for steering your character, and the face buttons for the various tricks. Some of the context-sensitive actions can register incorrectly at times, but the difficulty never ramps up to the point where a single nose-dive would catapult you to the bottom of the leaderboards . The lack of any real challenge will definitely be off-putting to hardcore gamers, but the game is obviously targeted towards the younger crowd, it’s perfectly understandable. Still, the addition of trickier challenges or a difficulty mode would have gone a long way. A bit of fun can be had with the multiplayer, but it’s a relatively run-of-the-mill affair, enabling two players to race each other in split-screen.
The graphics on the PS2 version are obviously the weakest of the multi-platform releases, with noticeable pop-in, aliasing and a general lack of detail. Weaker hardware excepted, however, there are certainly better looking titles on the PS2. Still, while the cartoony art style doesn’t even come close to matching the film, it serves its purpose well enough. There are a few clipping issues here and there, but character animation is serviceable and the frame rate stays solid throughout.
Today's forecast calls for a 95% chance of penguins.
The music is much of the same, in that it does the job, but not particularly well. The soundtrack is pretty generic, and whilst there’s an option to select your music, there’s really nothing that stands out. The sound effects, likewise, are average, but the voice acting is surprisingly good, and the character’s catch phrases are varied enough to prevent you from wanting to tear your ears off.
On the one hand, the simplicity of the title serves its intended younger audience well, but conversely, the game never really offers much more over the course of the length of the game. Sure, there are different areas and courses to unlock, each with their own unique design aesthetic, but the core gameplay, which is basic enough as it is, never evolves or improves. Simply put, if you're buying this for your kids (and there's little reason to own the game otherwise), a demo wouldn't fall too far short in the entertainment department.
If you find the trick system enjoyable, or the word “combo” sends you into a tizzy, there’s certainly some enjoyment to be had in Surf’s Up, but when all is said and done, there are better options out there for PS2 owners. And if you're just a fan of penguins in general, you could wait for the movie to come out on DVD, or get Happy Feet (we hear there's a cream you can get for that now).
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