Disney's That's So Raven

That's So Raven would be better named "That's So Boring". It's not that it's a particularly bad game as games go, it's just that it doesn't have one iota of anything remotely resembling fun.

In her GBA debut, Raven is experiencing the same sort of social problems that she encounters on a typical TV show. Her psychic powers keep warning her about impending doom looming over the people she knows and cares about, but when she tries to prevent disaster from happening, things go from bad to worse. As she is a high school student on the show, the action here on the GBA takes place in her high school.

The game's 20 levels are spread across 4 "episodes", which resemble stories from the show. In each, Raven is required to collect certain items that will either help get her out of trouble, or will help a friend in need. She can also collect items such as water bottles and perfume bottles to use against hazardous school employees and bratty students. At the end of each episode, there is a short mini-game to play. These mini-games are bland and don't add much to the game.

Basically, gameplay consists of walking or running across hallways and rooms from left to right in a side-scrolling manner, with up and down movement, as well. There is no platform jumping as such, and Raven's basic moves consist of using her purse to knock away items that are being thrown at her, and using the water and perfume bottles she's collected against enemies. To collect items, Raven simply walks through them.

Each level requires a certain amount of items to be found and usually returned to someone who can use them. There is also a short bonus list of items, which is optional. Once these things are recovered, Raven will need to take them back to the person who wants them. And that's the end of the level. There are no puzzles to solve, the mini-games are lame and there's not much action. The hazards are easily avoided by simply running around them. There are animated movies that play between each level, but even that reward can't save this game from the general feeling of apathy.

And that's all, folks. Each level, while requiring different collectibles and sporting different stories, are all the same in terms of basic gameplay. Raven will walk and run, collecting items while avoiding being hit by the bad guys, either directly, or from items thrown by them. The levels pretty much look alike, and don't offer anything new from level to level. The monotonous appearance also can lead to players becoming endlessly trapped in a certain level, trying to find an unexplored area for that one missing item. As everything looks alike, it's hard to figure out what has been visited, and what is a new area. A map would have helped tremendously.

While the levels are somewhat bland and uninspiring, Raven herself looks great. The way she moves and the clothes she's wearing are spot on from the show, and she is animated very nicely. The prissy walk is down pat, and the first few times I saw her running across the screen I burst out laughing - her run is the epitome of what it means when people say "she runs like a girl"!