In Meet the Robinsons, you assume the role of Wilbur Robinson. Wilbur is a child from the future. He's not the main star of the film, but then the game doesn't take you through the whole storyline of the movie, instead telling a different story entirely. The main portal for the game is the Robinson's home. At the beginning, you'll have to endure a few fetch quests (such as collecting parts or finding out who has locked the garage door), but after the extended tutorial, the game comes across as quite enjoyable.
Meet the Robinsons 2: When Wilbur turns bad.
There are five gadgets that you'll collect throughout the game to help you on your adventure. The two gadgets that are most important are the Charge Glove and the Disassembler Ray. The Charge Glove fires electricity at enemies, while the Disassembler Ray has the ability to "disassemble" objects around the levels, giving you parts to put into the Transmogrifier Machine, which builds gadgets and upgrades. You'll also use it to break apart obstacles which sometimes get in your way. Aside from these, the Scanner Gadget searches for hidden areas in levels, while the Havoc Gloves can get you underground and the Levitation Ray lets you levitate enemies and objects to move forward.
Throughout your adventure, you'll encounter many of the characters from the film, a bonus to children who have just seen the movie. The adventure itself is mainly made up of puzzle-solving and exploring. It's a little linear, as there is generally only ever one way to navigate through a level, but using Wilbur's gadgets is good fun, and the levels are varied. If you're stuck on a specific area, then Wilbur can ask for a hint too, so children won't become stuck on the one area for too long.
Look at all the pretty colours.
Meet the Robinsons also includes a few minigames to break proceedings up a little. One of the first minigames you'll come across are the Protectosphere courses. The game puts you in a massive ball, and you have to navigate around the course, trying to complete a lap in the fastest possible time. These sections play much like a simplified version of Super Monkey Ball, and are actually a lot of fun. There's also a Dig Dug-esque minigame for when you're using the Havoc Gloves (you'll need to dig through the maze using the glove, which is rather clever) and a Pong-style minigame too. All of these minigames complement the game well; you're never really forced into playing them, and you can replay them at any time.
As the game is available on plenty of platforms, it's worth noting there are a few differences between each version. The Xbox 360 game includes 38 Achievements worth 1,000 Gamerscore points, with Achievements awarded for completing the minigames, finishing levels and obtaining gadgets. There's a good spread for the Achievements, so if you want to try and get all 1,000 points, you'll need to play the game comprehensively. The 360 version also includes a bonus security minigame that has Achievement points devoted to it, in which you'll need to shoot hats using security turrets from different rooms in the Robinson house. It's a novel little bonus, and while not as enjoyable as the other minigames in Meet the Robinsons, it is another little distraction which keeps you playing the game.
What's going on here?
Graphically the game isn't pushing the Xbox 360, but still looks impressive. The game is colourful, and the characters all look as they did in the movie. The actors who voiced the characters in the film have returned to voice them again. Harlan Williams, Adam West and Tom Selleck all provided great voicework, and all of them suit their respective characters well.
Disney Interactive Studios has done a great job ensuring kids will want to return to the game. The single player adventure lasts under ten hours, but there are plenty of things hidden in the game to come back to. There are certain parts of levels you cannot access without a required gadget, not to mention blueprints hidden throughout the game to collect, as well as VR disks and action figures. You can also find concept art hidden throughout the game. One of our main disappointments comes from the lack of a two-player mode - even if the game included some minor co-op support, parents could play with their children. This would have been better than no two-player mode at all.
Overall, Meet the Robinsons is a solid and enjoyable game. The title borrows heavily from Tomb Raider and The Legend of Zelda, and while it doesn't live up to the greatness of those two games, it is still a good game in its own right. Armed with the Disney license, Disney Interactive Studios could have just thrown a simple basic game onto the disk and called it a day, but they've come up with one of the best kids games of the year.
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