Review #591: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - The Pumpkin King

 A nightmare befalls the Gameboy Advance.

 Let me mention a few things I love: Horror, Halloween, Metroidvanias and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This game is all of the above, so it's got to be good, right?....right?

 The game works as a prequel of sorts, chronicling Jack's first meeting with both Oogie Boogie and Sally. As for the plot, it's nothing special. Shock, Barrel and Lock do Oogie's bidding by causing mayhem for all the inhabitants of Halloween Town, and, of course, Jack Skellington will not allow it. Thus begins Jack's adventure, fixing the wrongs done in Oogie Boogie's name and, finally, rescuing Sally(Because of course) from Oogie Boogie himself.

 The game plays like any other Metroidvania: You explore medium-sized levels and will often come across obstacles that you won't be able to sort until you gain the appropriate skill. The game is unusually linear, when you have to backtrack the game will do it's darnedest to get you there, even if it means placing Arrow-signs on the way. You can, however, take off on your own, and try to collect secret collectibles that do nothing as well as shrunken heads that increase your maximum health.

 The A button jumps and B uses your selected item. You begin with Frog's breath, a close range weapon, and eventually get bats, Pumpkin bombs and Peppers. First problem: Some barriers REQUIRE using Pumping Bombs or Peppers... both items that can run out. That's right, while it never happened to me, it's possible to run out of peppers or bombs, requiring you to defeat enemies ad-naseam until more supplies drop. Both are also pretty situational in battle, the Pepper being nigh useless in combat against bosses.

 Nothing's particularly bad about the game, yet everything feels bland. It's also a fairly boring game, there are no good ways to fast-travel between zones, so going back to search for goodies with your newly acquired abilities isn't very compelling. And if you make backtracking boring you've failed on your Metroidvania design.

 It pains me to say so, but Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - The Pumpkin King  wasn't very fun for me. I think that even fans of the movie won't get much out of the game.
 4.5 out of 10