Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King Preview

If you ever wondered what happened before the movie then the Game Boy Advance version is your game.  The game tells the story of the first encounter between Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie.  Some strange and unusual bugs have started to invade Halloween Town and Jack finds out that the bugs are controlled by Oogie Boogie.  Oogie Boogie is determined to take over Halloween Town and it’s up to Jack and his friends to save Halloween from Oogie Boogie.

At E3 2005 the game was on display for the Game Boy Advance.  The game is a side scrolling game that is fairly common for Game Boy Advance games.  The visuals of the game look good but don’t push the Game Boy Advance to its limits.  Jack looks good but his animation is a little bit choppy at times.  The background graphics are good and set the tone of the game being set in Halloween Town. 

The action in the game is simple with one button for jump and another button for action.  The levels I played seemed easy enough for a side scrolling game on the GBA.  You ran around, ducked to avoid enemies flying high at you, jumped on platforms & ladders and then fired weapons to destroy monsters.  There was weapon that I thought was funny to use, a frog that would shoot out gas and other frogs. 

Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King will probably be a game for younger fans.  The gameplay is simple enough for younger gamers to play while older gamers probably won’t find the game very interesting.  But if you’re a fan of the movie then you still might want to pick the game up since it is a prequel to the movie.  Look for the game in October 2005 just in time for Halloween. 

For All E3 2005 Previews