''The Tale of Despereaux'' is a 2008

action video game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

published by Brash Entertainment. It is based on the 2008 film of the same name, which itself is based on the 2003 novel of the same name. It was first released for

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

. A few days later, the game was also released on

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. While the Nintendo DS version of the game received positive reviews, the other versions were mostly rated negatively.

Gameplay

''The Tale of Despereaux'' is an action game with jump 'n' run elements in which players control a mouse named ''Despereaux'' through a total of 16 chapters. While the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PC versions of the game feature a real 3D environment, the DS version is a

2.5D 2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwis ...

sidescroller game in which players have to walk from the left to the right side of the screen. When touching water, the mouse drowns and respawns at the start of the level or, if activated, the last

checkpoint Checkpoint may refer to: Places * Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected * Security checkpoint, erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary co ...

. Players can hit enemies with a sword to kill them. If enemies attack the mouse, the player dies and also respawns. Depending on the enemy, it will take a certain number of hits to kill them. In all levels, three notes—a red, a green, and a blue one—can be found.

Development

On August 19, 2008, video game publisher Brash Entertainment announced that a video game based on the film '' The Tale of Despereaux'' was in development. On December 2, 2008, the game was released for

, and

. On December 16 of the same year, the game was also released on

. An Xbox 360 version of the game was also planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons.

Reception

According to '' Metacritic'', the Nintendo DS version of the game received "Generally Favorable Reviews". IGN rated the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game with 1.9 out of 10 points, calling it " ..a total disaster .., stating that it " ..offered almost nothing redeeming during the six to seven hours it took to beat it". However, the Nintendo DS version received a positive review with 7.7 of 10 points by IGN, stating that the game is "A charming little platformer that's ideal for younger gamers".

References

External links

Official website
(archived) on Wayback Machine
The Tale of Despereaux
on

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The Tale of Despereaux
on playstation.com
The Tale of Despereaux
on Giant Bomb
The Tale of Despereaux
on IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of Despereaux (video game), The 2008 video games Action games Video games about mice and rats Video games based on animated films Nintendo DS games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in the United States Wii games Windows games Sensory Sweep Studios games Single-player video games The Fizz Factor games Brash Entertainment games