The Muppets Movie Adventures

The Muppets Movie Adventures, is a 2014 platformer video game developed by Virtual Toys and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, exclusively for the PlayStation Vita handheld system. The title is based on the famed The Muppets puppet series. The game centres around the production of a movie, with characters of from the Muppets serving as the characters in the respective film. The Muppets Movie Adventures was released in PAL territories on November 5, 2014, with physical copies arriving a short time later. The North American version arrived a year later. Upon launch, the title received mixed to negative reviews.

The game is narrated by Cheryl Henson, daughter of Muppets creator Jim Henson and the current president of the Jim Henson Foundation.

Gameplay

The Muppets Movie Adventures is a 2D platformer in which players traverse landscapes based on famous films, jumping across obstacles and exploring the terrain. Enemies appear in each chapter, who have the ability to swing or throw projectiles at the player (these vary depending on the stage). If hit, the player loses half of a heart; with three hearts being available, the gamer may receive a maximum of five hits before restarting from a nearby checkpoint. Hearts are scattered throughout the level. When collected, the life bar is restored to maximum capacity. Controlled characters also house weapons however, which allows the player to attack and defeat enemies. Mini-games in the style of dots and boxes are also scattered throughout levels. These puzzles must be solved in order for the player to progress through the stage.

Each stage is centered around a particular movie genre (for example, level three is a western), and features a unique story not related to other levels. At the end of each stage is a boss fight, usually the main villain mentioned in the opening exposition. Scattered throughout each level is a total of 56 collectibles as well (50 stars, 5 hidden movie reels and 1 hidden golden ticket).

Stages/Synopsis

There are a total of five stages in The Muppets Movie Adevtnures. Each stage is locked (with the exception of the first one) until the level before it is completed.

Stage One: Greenlegs: The Swashbuckling Pirate Frog
Based on: Original Story?
Theme: Pirate

Players control Kermit the Frog playing the role of "Captain Greenlegs". Greenlegs is described as a pirate Robin Hood, as he donates portions of his loot to those in need. This action has garnered the captain considered popularity with the public, including "being voted pirate of the year the last ten years by Pirate Monthly Magazine". However, the tyrannical guard chief is jealous of Greenlegs, feeling he should be the hero of the citizens. The chief captures Greenelegs, tying him over a pool of sharks to eliminate the pirate. However, Greenlegs escapes. The player then assumes control, with the task of traversing though the local town on route to your ship, in order to make a safe getaway.

Stage Two: The Wizard of the Green Earth
Based on: The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Theme: Fantasy

Players control Miss Piggy, who plays the role of "Princess Miss Piggy". Piggy reigns over the paradise-like land of Green Earth, which is described as a land of "fantasy, magic and powerful warriors". Despite this beauty, local wizard "Evil Uncle Deadly" has proposed to transform a portion of Green Earth into a parking garage, much to the dismay of the Princess. In order to entice Miss Piggy to allow construction, Deadly sends gifts to the princess. When this fails, the wizard kidnaps the famed court musician "Kermit the Court Musician Frog". The level revolves entirely around Miss Piggy climbing Deadly's tower in order to save Kermit and stop Deadly.

Gameplay from The Good, the Bad and the Animal stage

Stage Three: The Good, the Bad and the Animal
Based on: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Theme: Western

Players control Animal (dressed identically as the Man with No Name), a retired sheriff who's forced back into action after an incident at a local town named Frogstone. The town residence have been longing for tomato sauce to add onto their pasta, which is a traditional meal. One day, sauce is discovered to be under the town (similar in vain to when oil is struck). Seeing an opportunity for profit, Constantine (dressed in a fashion similar to Angel Eyes), a pasta tycoon, attempts to steal the sauce. This is when Animal comes in. Throughout the level, Animal progresses through both towns and moving trains, eventually defeating Constantine with meatballs.

Stage Four: The Night of the Walking Veggies
Based on: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Theme: Horror

Players control Gonzo. With a local town facing a drought, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew builds a machine which is intended to grow the vegetables itself. However, the absence of Honeydew's assistant, Beaker, causes an error in the machine, which now makes the plants grow strong, violent and come to life. As such, Gonzo is called in to shut down the machine and save the town. Throughout the stage, the player must guide Gonzo through the castle in which Honeydew lives (and where he conducted the experiment), fighting vegetables in an effort to turn off the creation.

Stage Five: The Koozebane Menace
Based on: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) (title), Star Trek series (1966–) (level)
Theme: Science fiction

Players control Kermit in a role similar to Captain Kirk. Travelling in his spacecraft alongside First Mate Miss Piggy, the pair are lost in a remote part of the galaxy. They then receive a distress signal from aliens asking for assistance, and are hit by a meteorite and crash land on a nearby planet. Kirmit wakes up to find Miss Piggy missing, but notices multiple footprints leading away from the ship. Having concluded his passenger was taken, Kirmit sets out to find Miss Piggy, while also collecting parts to repair his ship's broken generator. Kirmit possesses the ability to boost and hover with his space boots in this mission, while also using a bubble gun similar in appearance and execution to the Phasers from Star Trek to fend off the native fauna. The end villain is revealed to be Pepe.

Development

The game was announced on August 8, 2014 on Play France, a French website dedicated to PlayStation video game systems.^[1] A series of screenshots accompanied the announcement, depicting scenes from the first three stages.^[2] The game was released on the PlayStation Store in Australia and Europe a few months later on November 5, 2014. Physical copies would follow later on November 7 in Europe. The game was released in Spain on November 11.^[3] Australia's physicals came on November 14. The game would not be released in North America for nearly a year until it launched as a download-only title on September 1, 2015. Virtual Toys and Sony would later collaborate on two more licensed PlayStation Vita exclusive titles aimed at children: Looney Tunes: Galactic Sports and Phineas and Ferb: Day of Doofenshmirtz. Based on the Looney Tunes and Phineas and Ferb franchises, the games were released in 2015.

Reception

The Muppets Movie Adventures received mixed to negative reviews upon release. The title currently holds a score of 48 on review aggregator Metacritic, based on 12 reviews.^[4]

The Vita Lounge's Brad Gruetzmacher, reviewing for both the website and magazine held mixed feelings towards the game. Gruetzmacher praised the animated cutscenes and introductions given by the director at the start of each stage, appreciating their humor directed at all ages. He felt mixed feelings towards the controls, applauding the simplicity of the two-button system (one for jumping, another for attacking) whilst taking issue with the touch screen controls, saying they were "shoe-horned" in. Gruetzmacher also criticized the game for a lack of replay value, short length and easy difficulty. He ultimately awarded the title 2.8/5 stars, giving high marks to the execution but scored the lasting appeal low.^[5]

References

External Links

• The Muppets Movie Adventures website