Game Boy Advance

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

When game designers run out of original ideas they turn to the movies. At least that’s the way it seems. This is my third GBA review this month and all three games have been based on movies. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is the latest movie-inspired game that has shipped a month before the movie even hits theaters.

Activision follows up with another solid movie-to-game adaptation. The game is based on the movie of the same name, which stars Jim Carrey and isn’t due for another month or so. The game, like the movie, is targeted to kids, and includes rather straightforward gameplay. Along the way you’ll find that there are a number of unfortunate events that mar the characters in the story. The GBA version is a pretty standard platformer for the most part, but the use of the different characters and the invention-creating aspect do add a smidgen of depth to the game.

The vastly popular children's series of books entitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events" has been translated into a film of the same name, due out next month. Activision has released several of these games for various consoles, one of which is the GBA.

Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events does a lot of things right on the Game Boy Advance, combining quirky inventions with some solid platforming. Based on the recent movie of the same name, the story revolves around 3 recently-orphaned children. Violet, the oldest, has a knack for creating inventions. Her younger brother Klaus, the middle child, is a bookworm. Last, but certainly not least, is Sunny, whose teeth can bite through many things. All these are invaluable, as you'll find some of the tasks your recent guardian, Uncle Olaff, charges you with to be extremely dangerous.

These days, when a marketing machine says it will be releasing an IP-based game multi-platform, they mean every single major platform. Along with this understanding comes a grim stipulation: the Gameboy Advance version will probably be a little pile of stink not worthy of the level of quality of the games produced for the “big three” (Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox). And if the “big three” games are of questionable quality… well, then we’ve got one of those releases more apt to coverage by “schtick” journalists like Seanbaby than anybody else in the industry.