Charlie and the Chocolate Factory easily falls into that second category. Lacking more than one or two major action scenes, or any real action by protagonist Charlie for that matter, the crew at High Voltage were obviously stuck in a tight spot converting the film into a video game. Their answer? A platformer/collect-a-thon interspersed with bits of squad management and puzzle solving slightly reminiscent of Pikmin. As Charlie explores the factory, he, along with a squad of trusty Oompa Loompas, aid Willy Wonka in cleaning up the problems created by other children in the tour.

And at first, it's not all that bad. The game begins with Charlie chasing after a $10 bill, teaching players the basics of the game. But once clear of the tutorial and midway through the next level, things aren't as cheery as they once were, mostly due to the boredom-inducing repetition of gameplay tasks.

Take, for example, one of the earlier levels where Charlie must find some Oompa Loompas, command them to operate the machinery, capture WonkaBots with the Wriggle-Sweets and then use the resulting balls of vine to plug the vents, thus building the pressure to force troublesome Augustus further through the chocolate distribution pipes. Hopping up to the next part of the stage, you repeat this process again. And again. And thanks to the infuriatingly glitchy collision detection and problematic controls, finding the proper place from which to roll the balls into the vents is an ordeal instead of a simple gameplay task. Marvel as the ball passes right past the face of the vent, refusing to go in, as you repeatedly run poor Charlie into the spikes because you’re trying to face him in the exact angle the developer wanted you to launch the ball from.

Once done with that section of the game, it's off to another part that'll requires the player to complete the same objective several times over, and so forth and so on throughout the entire game. Honestly, it wasn't so bad clogging those vents or commanding the Oompa Loompas to fix broken machinery or rolling Violet through the tubes the first time, but the repetition of doing this again and again just sucks the enjoyment right out.

As if that wasn't enough, certain levels are quite vague in their objectives, leaving the player to wonder what exactly they're supposed to do, with the hint system providing little guidance. At one point I became so frustrated that I just ran around, throwing gobstoppers at objects and collecting candy pieces. Repeating this process for a few minutes, I had inadvertently completed the level.

Issues with the camera make platform jumping extremely frustrating, and once the Candy Balloon is acquired, this becomes even more of a problem. Attempting to launch myself onto a higher platform, I misjudged a jump because of the poor camera angle, instead bouncing under the platform where the camera panned around wildly, presenting the unexpected challenge of getting Charlie out of there while the camera was doing its best to make me sick. AI problems also creep up periodically, with the Oompa Loompas trailing Charlie getting caught on objects, failing to obey commands, or just running in circles endlessly.

That said, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory still manages to do some things right, unfortunately, none of them integral to gameplay. Both in-game and animated cutscenes are well done, quite stylish, and feature some excellent voice acting from sound-alikes of the film’s main cast. The music in the game is also nicely done, even if it rarely deviates from repeating the same few loops over and over again.

Despite all these flaws, if one were to force themselves to play through all the redundant bits, one would likely find Charlie and the Chocolate Factory slightly enjoyable at points, but that's equivalent to jabbing a knife in one’s arm just to experience the relief of a healed wound. The product just feels unfinished, likely rushed to launch alongside the film, lacking the polish and additional development time that would have made this a worthwhile experience.