DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon

The game looks good and the controls are not hard to understand, but this is another in a long line of games that are riding the crest of the feature film and not offering anything compelling enough to maintain interest for long.

How to Train Your Dragon is definitely a step backwards for Activision in terms of licensed games. It doesn't have the same level of polish and dedication that the previous offerings brought to the table. Still I respect the fact that the developers did something totally out of the ordinary for this game instead of the run-of-the-mill platformer we are usually spoon-fed.

The gameplay is cumbersome and doesn’t seem to gain any momentum in the fun factor department.

How to Train Your Dragon isn't a bad game; given its status as a movie game it has a level of polish that's really quite admirable. The game design, however, is all over the place.

Because of the bad gameplay and graphics is How To Train Your Dragon not a special game. It's a better idea to spend your money on a ticket to see the movie version in a cinema.

From my perspective, this title fails to find its audience – it doesn’t deliver enough content for the older kids, and the frustration factor is too high for younger kids. I’d say you could catch this one when Toys R’ Us runs their next 2-for-1 sale, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend it at full retail price.

It takes about 15 hours to get through the game, but it's too boring to be worthwhile.

How To Train Your Dragon on consoles seems to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. It wants to dabble in everything, while managing to avoid executing anything particularly well.

The mix between Pokémon-like gameplay and the movie itself doesn't work out well. Sadly, the developers haven't put much effort into this game, because the potential would have been great.

This game has a lot of potential and with another year of development could have been a great game for someone of any age. What we’re left with is a boring, stale, tedious shell of a game that simply won’t appeal to anyone.

When it comes down to it, if you’re really, really interested in seeing a bit more of the world and character from the film, then you might have some enjoyment with this game, but just a little. But without some varied combat or something that doesn’t feel like filler, it’s hard to say that anyone else will enjoy it.

If Pokemon had 487 fewer monsters and only one tournament, it would still be more thrilling than this movie-based game. [Jun 2010, p.82]

A charming gameworld. [July 2010, p.92]