DreamWorks Over the Hedge

Over the Hedge surprises with some really creative DS technology and game design that feels completely unique to the handheld library.

The game is very competent and offers up a fairly meaty single player experience. Taking cues from Metal Gear Solid and Prince of Persia, Over the Hedge is a well designed adventure that requires patience and planning.

Don’t let the movie license scare you away. The game looks good, controls well, and is entertaining to play. Vicarious Visions did a great job with the license here.

As a licensed game, it’s fantastic. It does justice to the source material in both the movie and comic strip, while providing a good game on top of it.

Don’t let the movie license deter you from this stellar title, as you may end up missing out on one of the more impressive DS titles released this year.

As one of the few genuinely impressive movie-to-game conversions, Over the Hedge smacks of the old PlayStation and N64 Toy Story adventure games of yore – with top-notch presentation, killer graphics and solid gameplay throughout.

Over The Hedge serves quite well as a light-hearted stealth action game. It’s not enough to make you forget that there’s no Metal Gear on DS, but it does boast a somewhat new use of the system’s features, and for a portable game based on a family movie property, exceeds all expectations.

The concepts behind the gameplay aren't exactly original, but their use and execution makes up for any stolen ideas. What the developers have done is unexpected: they've taken an excuse to make a truly forgettable game, and instead produced a quality product that keeps the player playing, and occasionally makes them laugh as well.

It's loaded with variety and will engage your mind, not just your reflexes.

The mixture of simple platforming and stealth make for an enjoyable experience, not to mention the fact that it’s a pleasure to look at.

It was very fun for the first few stages, but didn’t really change enough from level to level.

Your kids will love it, and even older gamers can find something to enjoy in the lighthearted stealth gameplay.

There's just not too much to do, and what activities there are become incredibly tedious after a short time. [July 2006, p.94]

All in all, Vicarious Visions has created a very generic 3D platformer that just traverses old territory. Even for a children’s game, Over the Hedge completely lacks challenge, subtlety, and length. The game does show signs of high production values, as evidenced by the lovely graphics, convincing voice-acting, and clever use of the two screens. However, those elements just prevent the game from being downright poor.

Go into your own bedroom and bring three objects, one at a time, into the living room. Over the Hedge on the Nintendo DS is the video game equivalent of this precise action, repeated ad nauseam.