The charming tale of Charlotte’s Web hit the movie theatres over the holidays, and it only makes sense to come out with a video game. The novel is a timeless classic among children of all ages, and even though I haven’t had the chance to see the movie yet and it’s been many years since I’ve read the book, I couldn’t help but want to see how the video game would hold up against the book as well as the movie. How can you not want to love Wilbur, the adorable pink little pig?Charlotte’s Web is set up as a platformer, where you control Wilbur and Templeton the rat through the sixteen levels to unlock the storybook stills and mini-games. The controls are relatively easy, even though you are trying to jump around as a plump little pig. The game guides you through all the controls and all your barnyard friends give you helpful tips along the way. You can do double jumps, bounce around on pitch forks, crawl, climb ladders, jump kick, pull ropes, bash fences, push/pull carts and sometimes you’ll have to be in stealth mode to avoid being caught or attacked by the unfriendly animals. Charlotte the spider asks you to collect letters for her during the level to spell words and phrases, and sometimes you’ll need to find some baby chicks all the while collecting spider eggs and power-ups. You’ll come across your human friend Fern who can help replenish your life (represented in the upper left hand corner by corn) by having a pig pampering session. By getting a belly rub or get your teeth and fur brushed, Wilbur will feel better in no time.
Most of the action happens in the top screen, the bottom touch screen is a map of the level as well as a collection of items where a single tap lets you use them. You collect power-ups such as Bucking Bronco which lets Wilbur kick mean creatures out of the way or armor which looks like a wooden plank covering Wilbur so he is protected temporarily from enemies and sharp shrubs. Collecting music notes, a Radiant power-up, lets Wilbur sing and can scare away the mean animals. At the beginning of the level, Wilbur is always sleeping. You can press A to wake him up but if you yell “Wake up Wilbur” into the microphone, he gets up too. That’s about all the usage the microphone gets, but it’s a funny addition.
The mini-games are played on the touch screen as well. There are quite a few mini-games to unlock, a lot of them are simple puzzle games that are fairly addictive. Many mini-games take advantage of the DS touch screen which is the way it should be. By going through the levels in adventure mode, you unlock the movie stills in the storybook section. There are only 3 modes to choose from, the adventure mode, mini-games and the storybook. One of the mini-games involves trying to find 3-letter words in a jumble of letters. Another game is about moving haystacks and apples to get Wilbur out of the pen. These simple puzzles games are quick to play and they go up in level so you can find yourself playing them for quite some time. It’s too bad that the mini-games need to be unlocked first by finding secret rooms/mini-game item during the levels, but the game itself isn’t too hard and secret entrances are usually accessible and fairly obvious.
The game looks great on the DS with the movie stills as well as the character designs. The cartoonish look is endearing, and the cast of characters that are included is always fun to see when games are based on books. With the excellent voice talent of Dominic Scott Kay for Wilbur and the catchy soundtrack, Charlotte’s Web is a very charming game for kids. Wilbur is just absolutely adorable. If you sit around idle long enough, he’ll sit down, scratch his ears and if you wait even longer he’ll do a little break dance. It’s just too adorable running around as a pig, when you bump into walls he falls backwards and looks a little dazed. The amount of movement Wilbur can do definitely adds a little something as you play. The background gets a little repetitive since you are running around the area collecting letters and there’s only so much you can do. It can get a little tricky when moving platforms are involved, but you have 5 lives, unlimited continues and frequent Fern checkpoints where your game is automatically saved.
Charlotte’s Web isn’t going to be classified as a great platform game, but its undeniable charm should win anyone over. The game itself is decent however the adventure mode can get a little repetitious. The mini-games are definitely fun, and they increase in level to provide more of a challenge. Great voice acting by Dominic Scott Kay to give Wilbur the personality and cuteness he deserves. Any fan of E.B. White’s classic tale should give this game a closer look, although it’s definitely targeted towards a younger audience.
I am a Canadian living in California with my husband and my precious baby Bailey (95lbs of labrador fun). I work full time and go to school, so finding the time to play video games is tough. I still manage to sneak some time in, whether it's playing on my GBA while I wait in line or sitting in the back seat of my car so I can use our dvd player to play the Gamecube on long trips. I've always been fairly decent at playing games to give my younger brother some competition. I started at the early age of 6 when I inherited an Atari 2600. I played any computer game I could get my hands on during those Commodore 64 days. Now I'll play anything from RPGs to first person shooters, racing games or basically anything that's fun and allows me to play with at least 3 other people.
