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Platform: PlayStation 2
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Publisher: Sierra
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Developer: Eurocom
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Medium: DVD-ROM
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Players: 1
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Online: No
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Also on: (n/a)
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A decent platformer that’s just too short and generic to be worth buying.
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At this point, I think everyone is familiar with Scrat, the acorn-obsessed creature featured throughout Ice Age 2's sizable marketing campaign. Appearing to be a cross between a squirrel and a rat, Scrat can't seem to catch a break, the lucrative acorn always somehow slipping away at the last moment.
As the star of Ice Age 2 The Meltdown, the game unsurprisingly reflects Scrat's fixation on collecting acorns. Running through the various locales, players will amass a sizable acorn collection, with bonus features, such as film clips, unlocked after a set amount of acorns are gathered.
But it's not just acorns Scrat's collecting. He's also on the hunt for walnuts, three of which are required to complete a level. These walnuts are earned via a variety of tasks - sometimes they're in plain sight, sometimes they're hidden behind a series of jumps and ledges, and sometimes they require the completion of a mini-game, such as Penguin Bowling or Monkey Shooting. Other characters from the film show up from time to time, including a section where Scrat must hide from Diego and a downhill slide featuring Sid. All in all, it's pretty typical platforming fare.
And that's simultaneously the best and worst thing about Ice Age 2 The Meltdown. Unlike most other licensed games, the core gameplay actually lives up the standards of the genre. At the same time, this means the title suffers from the same issues as most other platformers, namely the tired "been there done that" feeling that collection-oriented run-and-jump gameplay brings. Again, that's both a criticism and a compliment: For a licensed game to not have any major gameplay problems beyond the intrinsic flaws of the genre, that's rather uncommon.
However, that doesn't automatically make Ice Age 2 worth buying. Though the gameplay may rank up there with the rest of the genre, it's a pretty short affair, lasting no longer than four or five hours. At that length, the title can easily be completed within a rental period, far cheaper than the current suggested retail price of $39.99.
Don't get me wrong, Ice Age 2 The Meltdown is a fun game. The gameplay is solid enough for platformer fans and the license is implemented well enough for Ice Age fans to enjoy. But it's also rather short, and with only the license setting it apart from every other generic platformer on the market, there's no reason to buy when a simple rental will suffice.
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