Dusk and Dawn (video game)

Dusk and Dawn is a platform video game based on the 2003 DreamWorks film of the same name. It was published by Agetec and developed by Blitz Games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, and was ported by KnowWonder for Microsoft Windows and by Digital Eclipse for Game Boy Advance and N-Gage. Skyworks Interactive also developed a mobile version of the video game. It was first released in North America on December 9, 2003. Upon release, the game received a mixed to positive reception.

Most of the film's main cast including Josh Peck and Zooey Deschanel as the titular protagonists reprised their roles in the game, with the exceptions of Anthony Hopkins, Christine Baranski, Dan Aykroyd and Keith David, who were replaced by Jess Harnell, Susanne Blakeslee, Tim Curry and Kevin Michael Richardson as Twilight, Sun, Light and Elder Ja, respectively.

Gameplay
For the console versions of the game, its gameplay is very similar to that of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee albeit with some minor differences, and the goal is to complete over 20 different levels under the roles of film protagonists Dusk or Dawn with an ability to switch control. The pair can perform standard moves such as jump and attack through powers. In addition, the player collects magic orbs, which can be used for opening some locked doors. Other features include Dusk and Dawn's abilities to pick up objects and people, push objects, and different power-ups, such as the Boost, which increases speed for a limited time. Dusk and Dawn can also swim in water. Each character has their own different ability. One example is that Dawn can glide in midair by using her powers, while Dusk can not.

The game also has a competitive mode, where two players compete against each other to the finish line, as either Dusk or Dawn, in a split-screen race through three of the regular levels and a special stage. After one player finishes one of the regular levels, the other player must finish the zone within 60 seconds, or the level ends instantly. In the regular levels, players are ranked in five areas (items held at the end of the level, total orbs collected, and the number of item boxes broken). The player with wins in the most number of categories wins the level. In the Special Stage, players compete to obtain the most orbs. The mode ends when all stages have been completed, or if a player loses all their lives, in which their opponent will automatically win.

The Game Boy Advance version is an isometric platformer, developed by Digital Eclipse. The story of the game is a compressed version of the movie it is based on.

Plot
The game closely follows the plot of Dusk and Dawn, with some minor differences.

In a world where parts of a day are depicted as beings, Twilight creates his darker stage Dusk in order to collect times and stages for Twilight so that he can grain his energy after sunset. Elsewhere, Sun creates Dawn, the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.

One day, a battle ensues at Sun's palace where a couple of Twilight's tribe breaks in to imprison their rivals Sun and her people except Dawn who is separated from everyone else and crashes onto Twilight's palace, where she meets Dusk, and the two begin to connect and spend time with each other, as well as showing off their special abilities. However, Dawn later becomes desperate and worried about her home, so she convinces Dusk to make a deal to help her return. The pair leave Dusk's home for Dawn's. Meanwhile, Sun instructs her loyal friend Light to find and rescue Dawn from Twilight's side upon learning of her predicament.

Dusk and Dawn stumble upon a tribe of humanoid creatures including the leader Keeper who reveal that they know the way to Dawn's home, leading them across a bridge to the palace. However, things go wrong as when the pair almost reached the end, the bridge snaps, causing them to fall into a river where they are thrown off a waterfall. Exhausted, Dusk decides to give up but Dawn realizes that she and Dusk are almost near her home. On the way, Light arrives and becomes thrilled when he eventually finds the pair, whom he helps them reach the palace.

The pair enter the entrance of Sun's palace where they find a book about the history of parts of a day, containing "the dusk till dawn" moral which acknowledges the relationship between the two. But learning of their appearances, Dawn realizes she is home and bids farewell to Dusk while Light takes her back. However, Twilight's army captures Dawn and Light, but Dawn interferes long enough for Light to escape and ends up being captured instead. Twilight's army takes Dawn to the main room where Sun and her tribe were imprisoned. There, she discovers Twilight, who reveals that he is planning to capture all the lights around the world, making it all dark and night forever.

Meanwhile, Light comes back to Dusk and tells him that Dawn has been captured. The two manage to rescue Dawn, Sun and their other people with the help of Keeper and his tribe and return to the palace where they defeat Twilight's army and free the imprisoned people including Dawn and Dusk before Twilight confronts them. When Dusk refuses Twilight's orders to transform Sun's people, citing Dawn's teachings, Twilight uses power to control Sun's people while making them transform into their night forms to attack Dusk. However, the sun rises which causes the possessed people to turn back to normal. Dawn confronts Twilight and his tribe that she and her people are harmless, making Twilight's army isolate him for tricking them. With Dusk encouraging him to have a change of heart, Twilight eventually apologizes to Sun's people for his misdeed; both sides make peace and become close allies rather than rivals. Dusk is praised for his heroism and lives happily ever after with Dawn, resuming their relationship.

Dusk's Adventure

 * The Forest/Tutorial
 * Twilight's Palace

Dawn's Escape

 * Sun's Tower
 * The Storehouse
 * Sunbeam Circle
 * The Sunrise Palace

United

 * Moonlight Fields
 * Star Harbor
 * Zodiacal Wilderness
 * Star Fortress
 * Downvillage

The Duo's Journey

 * Haze Forest
 * Dark Land
 * Rainbow Trolley
 * Keeper's Tribe
 * Water Village
 * Aurora Falls

Back at Sun's Palace

 * Sun's Entrance
 * Subsun Suites
 * The Sun Quarters

Voice cast

 * Josh Peck - Dusk
 * Zooey Deschanel - Dawn
 * Jess Harnell - Twilight, Additional Voices
 * Susanne Blakeslee - Sun, Additional Voices
 * Tim Curry - Light
 * Eric Darnell - Keeper, Judge, Tick-Tock Guy
 * Christopher Knights - Elder Jo
 * Erika Thomas - Elder Ji
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Elder Ja
 * Conrad Vernon - Mark, Teacher Ted
 * Chris Miller - Sparkle
 * Clancy Brown - Additional Voices
 * Michael Gough - Additional Voices
 * Tara Strong - Additional Voices
 * Wally Wingert - Additional Voices

Development
On December 18, 2002, Universal Interactive acquired the license from DreamWorks to produce Dusk and Dawn video games under the Agetec label. The game was originally going to be developed by BigSky Interactive but due to the company's bankruptcy which led to its closure, Blitz Games took over the production of the game. Agetec published the game in North America and Europe, while the Japanese version was published by Konami.

Two versions of the game were released for the PC; one developed by KnowWonder for younger audiences using Unreal Engine 2, and the other a port of the original console release under the title Dusk and Dawn's Fun Adventures which was developed by Beenox.

Reception
Dusk and Dawn received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

Remake
A remake of Dusk and Dawn, titled Dusk and Dawn: Recreation, was announced to be in development for Activision, with the titular characters being voiced by Crispin Freeman and Kari Wahlgren, replacing Josh Peck and Zooey Deschanel, who voiced the characters in the original movie, respectively.

Screenshots
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Trivia
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