Tiggers Honey Hunt

Back in the year 2000 developer DokiDenki Studio as a collaboration for Disney Interactive and publishers NewKidCo released Tigger's Honey Hunt for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and PC. A game based on one of the most beloved characters on one of the kid's favorites. It's been almost a hundred years now since the first time a Winnie the Pooh book was published. Now it is one of the most popular cartoons of the whole family throughout the whole world.

And while the honey-loving bear is usually the main character in the stories, this time it is all about Tigger, the most energetic jumping-Tigger out there.

About the game

The game itself is pretty simple and clear, it had to be since it is directed directly to the younger audiences. In this very sweet title you play as Tigger, and your main objective for the whole game is to collect honey to help Winnie the Pooh, who's organizing a party for all of his friends. We all know that Winnie Pooh cannot throw a party without honey, and even though Tigger may not like honey himself, he loves helping his friends.

As Tigger, you'll have to explore around the Hundred Acre Woods and even get some help from his friends to get the beloved honey. There's the normal platformer part of the game and a second part which consists of three different minigame levels. The later ones are actually multiplayer, so you can get some of YOUR friends too.

Jumping, running, crawling and facing different enemies, Tigger's adventure is a pretty colorful and joyful one. Finding the 100 honey pots and collecting the pieces of the photographs may not be as simple as it sounds.

Compared to

Even though it is pretty simple, it looks a lot better than other Winnie Pooh games at that time. Not only in the visual aspect, but also in the fact that it is trying to tell a story, and a cute one at that. When you look at other games such as Disney's Pooh's Party Game: In Search of The Treasure, you can see a clear difference.

This title just mentioned is pretty much a board-minigame set, a lot like a Winnie the Pooh version of Mario Party. But on that title the sound, visuals, animations and pretty much everything is terrible. Even the minigames are dull and boring. Tigger's Honey Hunt feels much more like a classic Tigger tale, animated into a video game.

Review

Overall the game is pretty simple, and it's rather short, but that's not such a bad thing in this case. If it were longer it would be pretty boring, and since it's directed to a very young audience which tends to have a shorter attention span, it is perfect. It is a sweet little game to enjoy as a sweet little adventure.

• Graphics and Visuals: The graphics are pretty nice looking. The animations and character models look lively and very colorful, not to mention it 2.5D. This means that even though the environment and character are 3D models, it is a 2D platformer game, but even then it looks lovely

• Gameplay: There isn't much to say about the gameplay. The controls are easy to master and understand, they are responsive and very simple. The mini-games are especially simple yet enjoyable

• Sound: The soundtrack is great, sounds a lot like something you'd see in an episode of Winnie the Pooh animated series. But the truly special thing about the sound in this game is that all the dialogues are voiced and with good quality too. Making the adventure feel much more alive and interactive. Unless you're playing the N64 version, which didn't get to have voices

Bouncing Is What Tiggers Do Best! Although Winnie the Pooh is everyone's favourite tubby little teddy bear it seems that, at least recently, there are even more people who are fans of a certain orange-and-black-striped bouncing tiger, who goes by the name of Tigger! Possibly due to this popularity, over the last few years a lot more emphasis has been put on this hyperactive hero than on any of the other secondary characters in the world of Pooh. If evidence of this be needed then the recent Disney release The Tigger Movie proved that the stuffed tiger could easily support his very own feature film and also made him – if he wasn't already – a fully-fledged star in his own right. So, for all of those fans around the world that have always preferred the bouncy, striped one to the short, podgy one (who – let's face it – is a bit wet), this latest platform game for your N64 should both delight and astound you in equal measure!

Jump Street

You can see immediately what makes Tigger the appealing character he is – he's unmistakably adorable and almost ridiculously cute (have you gone soft Paul, or what? – Roy). Although he tries to be helpful, nothing turns out quite as he expects and he can be ignorant to the point of being naive. His happy-go-lucky attitude and desire to have fun every minute of the day is infectious, and his constant search for adventure gets him into trouble more times than anyone can care to mention. He's a rogue, a fool and constantly optimistic. So, judging by these traits, you can easily imagine how they would translate into a platform game. If you're asking how, then let us fill you in on the story behind Tigger's Honey Hunt, which, to be honest, pretty much speaks for

Side Box: Pooh Sticks!

If you have ever wanted to join everyone's favourite fat bear in his favourite pastime that doesn't involve honey, then you'll be pleased to know that the game of Pooh Sticks is a vital part of the honey hunt! If you want to learn more special moves then you need to beat Pooh in a game of Pooh Sticks. Having selected a place to throw his stick, Tigger must wait and see if it will be the first down the river and ring the bell before Pooh does! If Tigger wins, Pooh teaches him a new move.

Side Box: Rabbit, Rabbit!

Another one of Tigger's marvellous mini-games, the point of this one is to copy everything that your good friend Rabbit does in the allotted time! It is quite a simple game that requires you to press the C buttons that correspond with the rather bizarre moves Rabbit makes. If you can successfully achieve this (relatively tricky) task, then Rabbit will inform you how to perform a brand new jump!

itself! In the best story-telling tradition, the adventure begins something like this:

"It was a happy time in the Hundred Acre Wood and everything was just as it should be. Rabbit was pulling carrots from his field, Eeyore had lost his tail once again, Pooh was hungry, and it had been a while since the tubby bear had thought of an excuse to have another party. It was at that moment that Pooh realised there didn't have to be a reason and so began to prepare his humble home for guests. There was only one problem and that was honey, or rather, his lack of it and so it began to seem like Pooh was going to have to put his broom to one side and search for more honey. Things could have become extremely dull if it had not been for Tigger who made one of his more adventurous appearances that soon bowled Pooh over. When Pooh had managed to explain his situation to Tigger and the tiger had listened carefully to the information, Tigger took it upon himself to help search for more of Pooh's favourite food and off he bounced on a new adventure..."

Eye Of The Tigger

With the plot out of the way, Tigger must bounce his way around various areas of the Hundred Acre Wood, collecting pots of honey, avoiding all manner of troublesome creatures and helping his friends out along the way. At this stage it should probably be pointed out that this game has been developed with the younger end of the market in mind and because of this, it doesn't actually require that much skill. However, as side-scrolling platform games go, this one is quite superb. For an older player who is more accustomed to Zelda or Perfect Dark, the game shouldn't take any longer then a few hours to finish, but even if it is completed within a short while, there is still loads to do and see, so stick with it!

Most of Tigger's quest is very straightforward. You start at one end of the level, proceed right and before you get to the finish you should have collected enough honey pots to leave that stage! It really is that simple, but as you progress there are some things which require a little bit more exploration.

Every few stages or so, one of the other characters teaches you a new way of jumping which allows you to jump higher or farther. These new skills mean that you can now get to places that were previously unreachable. Using these new jumping abilities you can backtrack over past levels and complete new tasks. As each level unfolds, other characters from the Hundred Acre Wood turn up and ask for your assistance in finding a piece of equipment, locating another friend or in looking for a lost object. Some of these tasks are reasonably simple to complete while others are a lot trickier! As each new talent is taught to you, you can then go back and search the whole of any previous level to finish the task asked of you. So, even if the whole game itself can be completed rather easily, there are still little jobs for you to go back and tackle, which should surely add an hour or two to the gaming experience.

Another way that Tigger's Honey Hunt manages to keep your interest long after the main part of the game is over, is with its photo album section. As you progress through the game, you come across photos of Roo which you can collect. As you accumulate more and more of these photos, back in the menu screen they are added to your album that records images from your adventure. Once again, even if the game is a breeze to

Scissors, Paper, Stone

Towards the end of Tigger's adventure you will be required to play this game of chance with the wisest of all the characters, Owl! In a competition to win four games before your opponent, you must guess which of the three elements can beat whatever item Owl chooses. Again, it relies upon a choice of one of your C buttons but if you are lucky, you can time it just right so that you can see what Owl pulls out and therefore make the right choice!

Putting A Tigger In Your Tank

A lot of care and effort has obviously been put into this title to ensure that it doesn't look like some rushed-out product which could upset Winnie the Pooh fans or annoy gamers. Even though this title is really intended for smaller children, the developers have managed to make it accessible to all those interested in the world of Christopher Robin's favourite toys! There are mini-games galore, ranging from 'Scissors, Paper, Stone' to 'Rabbit Says', which is a variant on 'Simon Says'. There is even the opportunity for you to challenge Pooh to a game of Pooh Sticks, which should delight a fan or two! Although these mini-games are discovered as you progress through the game they can also be accessed at the main menu screen for you to play any time you like against the computer or even with a couple of friends! The opportunity to allow friends to play against each other (although not in the actual game) shows that this is a title that wants to be played over and over again, and to be honest, it deserves to be!

The way you actually control Tigger is simple and very easy to master. Only a few buttons need to be pressed at any one time, and special moves are achieved by pressing the Z or B button. This gets rid of having to hold down some buttons whilst stabbing at others in order to achieve that higher jump, and thus is perfect for younger players. The outcome of this is a control system that teaches the player all the moves he/she needs to know without giving them loads of buttons to remember in sequence so that they can overcome an obstacle! As the game progresses, the challenges ahead do become tougher and require you to master the controls but the difficulty of the game never becomes frustrating or leaves you wondering what to do next!

Piglet In The Middle

Possibly one of the greatest achievements that this game manages to deliver is the quite stunning and beautiful graphics which don't just capture the feel of the Walt Disney cartoons but actually make you feel that you are watching the original animations. This has to be the most faithful representation of any cartoon character on any games machine so far! It quite simply is a wonderful job. The backgrounds look as though they have been lifted from stills of the original cartoons and the characters themselves are brilliantly rendered. A lot of care has obviously gone into this game!

As Tigger bounces around the nine levels, the seasons of the year change. Starting at spring and ending with snowy wintry levels, each one perfectly portrays the change in the weather. Tigger moves smoothly and has a whole range of expressions and techniques to show off as he interacts with other animals from the wood. All the favourites – including Heffalumps and Woozles – make an appearance and each one has the exact same attention to detail you'd expect from a Disney licence. This detail is at its best when you watch the cut scenes that link all the stages together, and which bring the magic of Pooh and Co to life. This obviously loving recreation of Tigger's world extends into the main menu sequence too! A giant story book contains all of the options and areas, and each section of the game has its own page. If you know the film and how it structured itself around the pages of a child's story book, then you already have a good idea of how the menu screens in this game look! It's quite amazing that an N64 title has been allowed to look this good and it is just a shame that unless you are an avid fan or a young gamer, the true spectacle of the game will be lost on so many! Everything from shadows to minor things like bats flying in the background have been added in, to ensure that there's far more to look at on the screen than just a mad orange stuffed toy with a strange fixation for jumping up and down!

Eeyore Number One!

Of course, there are a few small gripes to mention. The most obvious is that – of course – the game poses no real challenge to those of you who like your games to be tricky. There are a few (and by a few, we literally mean a very few) moments when the game might be a little too tough for the younger kids, and bearing in mind who this game is aimed at, these occasional instances might be a bit off-putting. As an overall game though, these problems pale into nothing because the strengths of the game far outweigh the few negative points that the title has.

If you can forgive these minor flaws then what you are left with is a fun, gorgeous, almost addictive title that is one of the few real games that invites the younger members of the family to pick up the control pad and play away. Okay, so it won't set the gaming world alight and many older players will dismiss it for the subject matter and difficulty, but to those of you who do decide to invest in it will never, ever feel disappointed. T-T-F-N! ■

Side Box: Memories...

As with any good photo album, Tigger's is filled with happy memories about his honey-hunting adventure. As you proceed through the game, you can collect more and more photos to fill up those originally empty pages. See if you can collect them all, and if you can, at least you won't have to worry about your mum pulling the baby photo album out to show family and friends. Especially that picture of you when you were aged two having a wee in the bathtub!