Nintendo Okie

If you haven’t seen the previews and coverage of Disney-Pixar’s Upcoming movie, Wreck-It Ralph, you haven’t been on the internet. It’s basically a love letter to video games and I’m really excited to see the movie. Disney has also released a tie-in game through the iOS App Store and I both love it and hate it.

Wreck-It Ralph is the “bad guy” in a video game called Fix-It Felix Jr, which is also the game that is currently available for download. It’s a clever take on games like Donkey Kong and Rampage. You play as Felix who needs to go around a high-rise apartment building fixing windows and doors broken by Ralph. You do this by using a virtual d-pad and pressing a big hammer button anytime you want to fix a window. The whole time you have to dodge the ducks from Duck Hunt and bricks thrown by Ralph (occasionally breaking a window you’ve already fixed).

One detail I mentioned above (virtual d-pad) is the game’s biggest flaw. The four directional buttons are crammed into a very small space with no room between them. When you’re looking at the building and trying to plan your route, you don’t want to look at the buttons to move around. These types of games are based on very quick movements and accidentally hitting the wrong direction is incredibly frustrating.

The game itself is a ton of fun, but it highlights the biggest flaw I have with gaming on mobile devices. That’s also where the title of this article comes into play. If this was a game released through the 3DS eShop for $2 (it’s currently free on iOS) I would easily recommend everyone should pick it up. It’s the type of game perfectly designed for a handheld device like the 3DS. It harkens back to those old NES games, such as Wrecking Crew, Ice Climber and even arcade games like Rampage where all of the action is on a single screen. You also have a very clear goal that doesn’t have to be explained. See broken window, fix broken window. That’s all you need to know. The visuals are straight out of the NES and I would be surprised if Disney doesn’t do some sort of promotion where they release limited collector’s editions with the game on an NES cartridge.

We know there is an actual tie-in game for Wreck-It Ralph coming and it’s going to be exclusive to Nintendo platforms. I think, however, this is the perfect way to do a tie-in game and make it something people won’t get angry over. We’ve seen the generic, 3D platformer done to death. That’s essentially what it means to be a movie tie-in game. They’re boring, the mechanics are generally dumb and the games end up being no fun to play. This however, is brilliant. I want to play Fix-It Felix Jr. I want to recommend it to all my friends. As it stands right now I would only recommend people check it out for the novelty factor.

If it had been released as an eShop, XBLA, WiiWare or PC game that gave you controls that are perfect, responsive and don’t get in the way, it would be easy to recommend. Disney could sell the game for $2 and it could be a smash hit. I could actually see this being the type of game people would consider for awards at the end of the year on downloadable platforms. I see the potential and the fun factor there. It’s just a shame the controls get in the way. Hopefully there will be something announced soon. Maybe Nintendo and Disney are going to release it in the eShop closer to the movie’s launch. It just seems like a huge wasted opportunity. I want to give someone my $2 for the game and play it with buttons and a real d-pad, but I can’t.