2 stars (What's this? What's this? A true Nightmare of a prequel) - The film 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' caused me to look at the world in a different way. I'd never seen anything like it (and, despite 'the Corpse Bride's' best efforts, I still haven't). The film came out in the days when Capcom was still cranking out their first-rate Disney games. I held my breath and hoped that they would make a 'Nightmare' game...something like their 'Disney's Aladdin' which, though lacking the hand-drawn animation of the Sega version, took you faithfully through every scene in the film and then some. But the years rolled by with no 'Nightmare' game in sight. I decided it was probably for the best, as a video game would probably never do the landmark film justice. Well, the game has finally come, albeit nearly fifteen years late. And I, still a rabid 'Nightmare Before Christmas' fan, am sorry to say that the wait has not been worth it. The game feels just as old as the movie. When I first saw the early screen shots of the game, I thought, "Oooh. That's not very pretty. It actually looks...terrible." This is one of those cases where judging the game by its graphics actually works. The whole thing is a mediocre mess that you hope will aim higher but never does. Instead of going for a Mario-esque style adventure or something along the lines of the aforementioned Capcom 'Aladdin', what we have here is sort of a 'Castleroid' prequel to the film. The game takes place years before the events in the film and tells the story of how Jack first met Oogie Boogie and Sally. Sounds promising. I can just see the developers now: "Castlevania is kind of a Halloween-themed game. Let's make it like Castlevania!" Too bad the execution is so poor. Armed with a can of frog's breath ("Frog's breath will overpower any odor"), you hop, climb, and shoot your way through an expansive world map that you'll cover many times over as you aquire new abilities that open the way to... Buena Vista Games :: tim :: burton-s :: nightmare :: before :: christmas :: the :: pumpkin :: king :: buena :: vista :: games :: games :: video :: games :: timburton-snightmarebeforechristmas-thepumpkinking 11 oct :: Tim Burton-s Nightmare Before Christmas- The Pumpkin King
Barcode Software/ buena free 
