Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Cute is probably the first term that one associates with characters like Chip, Dale and co. And cute is the quality reflected throughout in this video game adaptation of Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, a Television Cartoon show comprising of the leads along with Gadget, Jack and a bee named Zipper.

The plot involves Gadget being kidnapped by Fat Cat, considered to be The Joker of Chip 'n Dale series (as in, being the flagship villain for the franchise) by luring her under the pretext of getting her investigate a missing kitten. Most of the plot is clear by the end of the first two levels itself. The rest are basically just fillers to get you to the final showdown with Fat Cat.

Chip 'n Dale's gameplay revolves around standard platformer mechanics made popular by Nintendo's Mario. In single player, you are given a choice to play the game either as Chip or as Dale. The game levels are filled with cartels which can be picked up and thrown either horizontally or vertically up. A lot of them also contain hidden items such as Stars, 1Ups and Nuts which replenish a portion of your health. The levels host a variety of crazy creatures from mechanical robot dogs to Jack-In-The-Boxes to Kangaroos in a level or two and most of the levels conclude with the standard boss fights. Five hits is all that it takes to finish the boss with Fat Cat requiring a bit more. A minor flaw with the level design is that it seems to be made keeping two player co-operative play in mind - there are certain areas that seem simply inaccessible in single player and require the obligatory second player to reach.

The visuals, while seemingly standard fare in light of other games, are quite colorful which is probably expected considering the characters on whom the game is based. The sound is simply endearing and all the background tunes heard in the levels are a pleasure to hear; the tunes scream cuteness. Jumping sounds of the characters particularly reflect this.

While it may not seem to have much new to offer, Chip 'n Dale's first outing on a video game console is a solid well-designed platformer that provides about an hour or so of feel good entertainment. It certainly can and should be played !!!