{"id":110923,"date":"2020-03-28T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/gigantosaurus_the_game"},"modified":"2020-03-28T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T18:00:00","slug":"review-gigantosaurus-the-game-yet-another-poor-licensed-tie-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/03\/28\/review-gigantosaurus-the-game-yet-another-poor-licensed-tie-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Gigantosaurus: The Game &#8211; Yet Another Poor Licensed Tie-In"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/gigantosaurus_the_game\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/gigantosaurus_the_game\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 1 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103980\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103980\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 1 of 3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Licensed games continue to be incredibly hit and miss. There are certainly examples of titles that have got it right, such as <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/south_park_the_stick_of_truth\">South Park: The Stick of Truth<\/a><\/strong> and its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/south_park_the_fractured_but_whole\">sequel<\/a>, but sadly there are countless other games that just simply feel like shameless cash grabs, relying solely on the popularity of the property over compelling gameplay. This is unfortunately the case with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/gigantosaurus_the_game\">Gigantosaurus: The Game<\/a><\/strong>, a soulless husk of a platform game that takes many cues from <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/super_mario_odyssey\">Super Mario Odyssey<\/a><\/strong>, yet fails to implement them in any meaningful way.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note right away that Gigantosaurus: The Game is fully intended for very young gamers: we\u2019re talking age 6 and under. The way in which the narrative is delivered makes this fairly obvious from the start: cutscenes occur at regular intervals when completing a certain task or level, and the plot is told entirely through simple, rhyming narration. None of the characters themselves can actually talk, which is a shame in a way, but the simplicity of the plot\u2019s delivery means that youngsters will at least be able to follow along without much trouble.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 2 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103986\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103986\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 2 of 3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>You play as one of four young dinosaurs: Tiny, Rocky, Mazu, and Bill. You can switch between the four on the go, or grab up to three friends and play cooperatively. The game is split into several levels of decent size, and your main priority in each level is to collect dinosaur eggs scattered throughout the environment and bring them back to their individual nests. There are a few optional side quests in addition to this, but they all consist of collecting different items, and quite frankly the main story quest is monotonous enough as it is.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the four playable dinosaurs is endowed with a special ability that will allow access to certain areas. So for example, Tiny is an adorable Triceratops, and can use her thick skull to smash into poles, granting you a handy makeshift bridge when they come crashing to the ground. Playing cooperatively with friends means you\u2019ll need to communicate which player is required for the task at hand, but if you\u2019re on your own, you\u2019ll need to cycle through the dinosaurs until you reach the right one, which can be frustrating after the umpteenth time.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s absolutely no doubt that Gigantosaurus: The Game has taken inspiration from Super Mario Odyssey, in that the task of collecting the dinosaur eggs is incredibly similar to collecting moons. A good bit of exploration is required to find each of them, but given the game\u2019s intended audience, the difficulty is more or less non-existent. In fact, it\u2019s not until the fourth level that you\u2019ll actually come across any creatures that can physically harm you \u2013 at least, from our experience. We could put this down to the game catering to its intended audience, but heck, games when <em>we<\/em> were young were tough as nails. However, to give credit where it\u2019s due, the level design itself is impressive, and some of the platforming required is great fun, with sections that include moving platforms on conveyor belts, and tornadoes that pull you into the sky.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 3 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103977\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/103977\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Gigantosaurus: The Game Review - Screenshot 3 of 3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Surprisingly, Gigantosaurus: The Game is actually two genres in one. We\u2019ve covered the platforming side, but in between each level, the game becomes a kart racer \u2013 not a very comprehensive one, mind. It\u2019s actually a decent way to break up the repetitive nature of the main game, as you\u2019re required to take part in races in order to travel from one location to the next. Again, you can choose from one of the four main characters, but we couldn\u2019t detect any discernible difference between any of them in terms of speed or handling.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll race along the tracks, collecting boosts and various other collectibles along the way, but sadly there aren&#8217;t any weapons available. It\u2019s almost insultingly easy to win, but again, we need to keep reminding ourselves that it\u2019s for young kids. Nevertheless, the controls are fairly decent here, even if they lack staple karting mechanics such as drifting. You can also choose just to race right from the main menu if you want a bit of a break from the main game, which is a nice little touch.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of its general performance, Gigantosaurus: The Game is about as smooth as a spinosaurus\u2019s backside. The frame rate is constantly sketchy and really starts to struggle when the screen gets busy. Additionally, we\u2019re all used to game assets fading away when the camera gets in too close, but in this case objects like huge trees and rocks disappear immediately when you walk up to them, so you\u2019ll find yourself frequently walking into invisible objects \u2013 given the rather basic nature of the graphics (we\u2019re talking GameCube\/Wii quality at best), this is simply inexcusable, and makes for an infuriating gameplay experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>We cannot wholeheartedly recommend Gigantosaurus: The Game to anyone. Young children who love the animated show may well get some limited enjoyment out of it, but with poor graphics, a total lack of any discernible challenge, and shocking technical issues, it\u2019s yet another licensed title that feels like it was designed as a quick cash grab. Games like this need to become extinct, and fast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked) Licensed games continue to be incredibly hit and miss. There are certainly examples of titles that have got it right, such as South Park: The Stick of Truth and its sequel, but sadly there are countless other games that just simply feel like shameless cash grabs, relying solely on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}