Disney’s Lilo & Stitch – PlayStation

Review

The buzz is that Lilo & Stitch is the best animated Disney film in years; those hoping for a similar renaissance in Disney video games are going to be disappointed. Disney takes the peculiar view that children aren’t very good at video games and require specially made games that are as easy and bland as possible. Having said that, Lilo & Stitch, the video game, is a step up from their usual movie tie-ins, and indeed, judging by the preview code we played, is a superior game to fellow cash-in Stitch: Experiment 626 on the PS2.

The game is basically a simplified version of the into-the-screen sections from Crash Bandicoot. Taking control, in alternate levels, of Lilo the little girl and Stitch the space fugitive, it’s your job to reach the end of each course and… er… well, what you’re doing is never adequately explained by the game, but it’s the journey that’s important and this generally involves some amiable platform larks and the killing of small animals so that they turn into either pineapples or coffee mugs. It may be stupidly easy but Lilo & Stitch is at least a pretty little beast, with some quite impressive graphics for the aging PS One. It’s still not as good as Crash Bandicoot, but as film tie-ins go there have been a lot worse. —David Jenkins — Amazon.co.uk Review