Puppet Pals (video game)

Puppet Pals is an action-adventure video game based on 20th Century Fox's 2006 animated film of the same name and was published by THQ. It was released on June 27, 2006 in North America and on September 29, 2006 in Europe. The GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360 versions were developed by Heavy Iron Studios, while the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions were developed by Helixe. The port for PlayStation 3 was planned, but that version was later cancelled. The Wii version was later released on November 21, 2006 as a launch title.

Sarah Vowell, Jason Lee, Chris Wedge, and Patton Oswalt are the only actors to reprise their roles from the film, with the rest of the cast, including Jesse McCartney and Anne Hathaway being replaced with other voice actors - the original movie dialogue and can be heard in cutscenes taken directly from the film. However, this does not apply to the Game Boy Advance, PSP, and Nintendo DS versions, in which isolated voice clips from the movie are reused. The game's music was composed by Michael Giacchino, who also scored the film.

Gameplay
Puppet Pals is based around 3D platform gameplay, with the player controlling Nathan Ritter, Princess Joanna, Toby the Lizard, and Slippy (in select levels) from the film and guiding them through a open-world environment. Environments and enemies are based on those in the film, although several areas and creatures not seen in the film are also included. Players can jump or double jump. The game allows a second player to press a button on the second controller and join the game at any time, as well as pause the game and drop out. The player will also be able to customize Nathan, Joanna, and Toby with costumes. Each character in the game has his or her own ability. To gain their abilities, the player must first find three cards, known as power cards, to gain the character's ability.

There are several mini games as bonuses in the game. Some multiplayer minigames are also included, based around puzzle and shoot-'em-up mechanics. The game also has an array of costumes, which when collected make a humorous sound and act as armor.

The Game Boy Advance version is a side-scroller with graphics resembling the Donkey Kong Country series. The game is separated into five chapters with a bonus level if the player collects all of the coins in each level.

Plot
Same as the movie plot but it has many edits and differences in the video game version.

Levels

 * Tinywood Grassland
 * Tutorial (Slippy)
 * Nathan's House
 * Obstacle Course (Nathan)
 * Tinywood
 * Welcome to Tinywood (Nathan)
 * Scary Forest (Nathan/Toby)
 * Rosie's Palace
 * The Diamond Heist (Joanna)
 * Escape from the Palace (Joanna)
 * Alleys of Tinywood
 * Finding Joanna (Nathan/Toby)
 * Boat Chase (boat)
 * Back in Rosie's Palace
 * Escape Once Again! (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Dragon Attack (Nathan; boss)
 * Pipe Dreams (Toby)
 * Tinywood Forests
 * Quest for the Lost Bone (Slippy)
 * Mysterious Caves (Slippy)
 * The Rivers of Tinywood
 * River Paths (Slippy)
 * Inside the Whale (Slippy)
 * The Outskirts of Tinywood
 * Entering The Hideout (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * The Lava Rivers (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Muddy Mystery (Slippy)
 * Icy Mountains (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Tann Harbor (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Hollow Huts (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Back in the Alleys of Tinywood
 * Chased Once Again! (boat)
 * Waterfall Troubles (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Back in Nathan's House
 * Fixing the Portal (Nathan/Toby/Joanna)
 * Back in Tinywood
 * Nathan to the Rescue (Nathan)
 * Chased Through Tinywood (Nathan/Toby/Matt)
 * The Big Battle in Rosie's Palace
 * Palace Heist (Nathan/Toby)
 * Rob Storm Showdown (Nathan; boss)
 * The Final Battle (Nathan; boss)
 * The Island
 * Lost in the Island (Slippy)

Voice cast

 * Yuri Lowenthal as Nathan Ritter
 * Grey DeLisle as Princess Joanna / Additional Voices
 * Crispin Freeman as Toby the Lizard
 * Jill Talley as Rosie Storm
 * Matthew Broderick as Captain Matt
 * Sarah Vowell as Natalia Miller
 * Jason Lee as Rob Storm
 * Chris Wedge as Slippy the Dog / Additional Voices
 * Jim Meskimen as Dave / Additional Voices
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as John
 * Patton Oswalt as Steve Smiley
 * Tara Strong as Additional Voices
 * Keith Ferguson as Additional Voices
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Additional Voices
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Additional Voices
 * Chris Renaud as Additional Voices

Reception
The game received generally positive reviews. Metacritic calculated an average score of 68 out of 100 for the game. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 36 out of 40 for the PlayStation 2 version. It also scored 7.5/10 from IGN. It also got a positive score of 7/10 from Game Informer.

Sequels
A sequel to the game, which was based on the second movie, titled Puppet Pals 2 was released on April 13, 2010. The gameplay of the game is quite the same as the game based on the first film, but with some differences. A video game for the third film Puppet Pals 3 has also been made.

Trivia
Coming soon!