Game Review: Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

Reviewed for: Playstation 3 and Wii; Also available for: Nintendo DS

From: High Impact Games/Disney Interactive

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10-plus (cartoon violence, comic mischief)

Price: $40

Games made with kids in mind have grown easier at a needlessly fast pace over the years. With "Phineas & Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension," we've finally broken through the bounds of "easy" and washed ashore on "insulting," and it's to the full detriment of what otherwise could have been a pretty cool platforming game.

"Dimension," for those unfamiliar, is based on the movie of the same name, which itself spawns from the "Phineas & Ferb" cartoon. If you're familiar with the cartoon, you'll appreciate how well the game mimics its look and personality. If you're not, the game does an adequate (and funny) job of bringing you up to speed with the cast and the story, which essentially is an elaborate excuse to send our heroes running and jumping through different dimensions.

"Dimension's" gameplay somewhat resembles that of the Lego games - a lot of running, jumping and combating across levels that aren't quite 2D but aren't completely 3D either. Like those games, there are two playable characters on screen at once, and while playing cooperatively with a friend (offline only) is the ideal way to go, the A.I. does a nice job with the second character if another player isn't available. (You also can swap freely between both characters when playing alone).

The different dimensions translate perfectly as a video game, allowing "Dimensions" to send players into levels constructed from gelatin, balloons, garden gnomes and even old-timey monochrome film. The core gameplay doesn't deviate dramatically between these areas, but the themes provide the basis for each level to flaunt its own share of clever obstacles and puzzles.

Problem is, "Dimension's" obstacles don't really feel like obstacles, nor do its puzzles feel like puzzles or the fights like a fight, because the difficultly of all three is just absurdly low.

Between puzzles, "Dimension" frequently crowds the screen with a half-dozen or more enemies, but they're so inadequate that you can fight sloppily and still regularly come away unscathed. Though combat looks chaotic, the only hard part about it is actually losing a fight without purposely doing so. Health packs are rampant despite no such need for them, and should you somehow manage to perish, shaking the controller pops you right back up.

Everything else gets the same padded-wall treatment. Fall off a platform? No problem: The game resets your position without penalty. Stumped on a puzzle? No, you're not, because "Dimension's" interface and dialogue, while often amusing, spells out everything you need to do. The game occasionally changes things up - most commonly in the form of rail-shooter sequences aboard a jetpack - but these are no more challenging than the main game.

"Dimensions" looks great, sounds great and moves fluidly despite the wealth of onscreen activity. Your weapons are satisfyingly upgradable, and you can even modify the sounds they make when deployed.

But the excitement wanes when the sense of peril flatlines this hard. Even kids, unless hopelessly inept and allergic to adversity of even the enjoyable kind, will be bored by how gently this one guides them.

If you remain interested, the PS3 version is the way to go: It looks crisper, obviously, and it includes four episodes of the cartoon on the disc. Just don't make anything of "Dimension's" Playstation Move support: Outside of pressing the Move button instead of X, the game plays exactly the same as it does with a standard controller.

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