Vimm's Lair: GameCube Reviews - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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GameCube
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:
7.49
7.54
7.41
7.44
Votes: 61
Reviews: 1


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Reviewer: Cutepuppy351 Date: Nov 22, 2018
The Charlie And The Chocolate Factory video game is about a young boy called Charlie, loosely based on the film, (originally published as a book by Roald Dahl on the 17th January, 1964) who gets one of the last golden tickets and is taken throughout 12 unique levels, with their own unique puzzle elements, gameplay mechanics that you earn throughout later in the game, and collectables.

Graphics: 5
The graphics are okay, it's not astonishingly good, but I think it deserves a 5, as it's in the middle ground for me. It gives off that classic Gamecube/PS2 vibe.

Sound: 9
The soundtrack for this game is orgasmic. I highly recommend that while playing you favour the soundtrack over the SFX, as it's well deserved, playing an actual orchestra and instruments to intensify the mood. Fun fact about this game, some of the vocals used are actually separate from the instruments, cut from the game, or even split in half completely, playing seamlessly and giving the illusion of a full song. The uncut soundtrack though is uncut for a reason, it is way better and you will enjoy it probably better than the actual gameplay.

Gameplay: 6
I'll give this a 6, since I'm not one for liking puzzlers.
I do however like platformers, though I think the collectables are highly unrewarding and useless and feel like they add nothing to the game other than to collect them "just because".

A lot of the mechanics in the game are given to you during the middle of the game, when you finish a lot of the levels and are rewarded with powers that were shown in the film and recreated here, each corresponding to their own room as to when you get them.
The early part of the game is showing off simple puzzles and simple platforming, with the ability to throw some form of candy that acts like a rock. Cool, I guess?

The camera is clunky however even after all these years, and the game just fails at trying to properly implement good puzzling mechanics, as it mostly revolves around finding Oompa Loompas, getting them to repair something, and then progressing. It gets tedious and boring.

Overall: 5
I'll give this game a 5. It's an innovative platformer, though I feel a lot of it's puzzles are bad. There's always a set way to do things each time and you're never given a different option, so you have to sit there through it while they fix or use machinery, and then shows you what it did, throwing exploration out the window.

It just gets tedious and eventually, boring after you first learn the game mechanics.

The story is enjoyable, it sticks to what the story told for the most part and I would like to say an extension to it.

In closing, I really loved the novel, the movie, the remaster of the movie, and this game. I wish it could even get a remaster, since the movie got a remaster and I think it deserves it. Though, going by units sold, I highly doubt that's likely. Though times have changed, and I would 100% buy a game about chocolate in 4K resolution.