Wii Review: Space Chimps

This action platform title has plenty of basic monkey business based on the movie of the same name plus some new characters and 13 new enemies. Players travel to the planet Malgor where they must battle king Zartog. The battle begins immediately as the heroic trio, including Ham the Third and voice work from actual stars Patrick Warburton (Titan) and Cheryl Hines (Luna), maneuver through the large planet, first on a large mobile rock monster. A deeper explanation/storyline would be nice here, especially since it’s confusing at times. Developers put most focus on the action which includes a nice mix of stealth, battle and puzzle.

Players get good monkey movements as Ham the Third and Luna, but the linear levels might create more difficulty for younger players. Ham is a close contact fighter while Luna gets a blaster to dispatch enemies from afar. She also has fluttering eye wings that help her maneuver to special spots and a special creature that latches to Luna's wrist, shooting goo at enemies. Players can also fly on the backs of alien fluvians. Strong movement controls, improved with some decent camera options, mix pretty well with the action elements including the basic B button attacks (multiple hits create combination attacks). The levels also include a nice mix of environments. Overall, the levels could have used more originality as the level don’t quite outweigh familiar scenarios seen before in other games. Developers often give players a helping hand with colorful motions icons directing towards the next necessary actions to advance through the levels. Little tykes will appreciate the reward for their "try and try again" efforts when they reach the next area after several tries.

The three single-player game modes include Classic (start with three lives), Survival, and Time Attack (5 minutes for single players and 10 minutes for 2 players) where players score as many points as possible. Getting hurt in this last level doesn’t reduce life; it just depletes the time. Two player co-op or competitive options also include a one-player game with an AI-controlled character and an unlockable multiplayer cooperative arena.

The 11 levels have three bosses to conquer and plenty of collectibles, including the crossover promotion Dole bananas, which players collect for health. Players also can acquire concept art and cutscenes from helpful globhoppers. Replay missions to find all the collectibles and beat level goal times. The mini games include a simple, 3-D arcade-style shooting game with a basic “chain” bonus – every bullet that hits an enemy increases the amount of damage you do in next shot. The fun gameplay has mild replay value (experienced players can conquer it in single digit hours) among constant action and movement. More character background/deeper storylines would have been nice, but action gets the driver's seat on this rocket ship.

Space Chimps is rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) by the ESRB for Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Language and Mild Fantasy Violence. This game can also be found on: Nintendo DS, PC, PS2 and Xbox 360.