As movies, Pixar films are some of the best out there. The animation is stunning, the characters are creative, and the stories are entertaining. What makes a good movie does not always make a good video game, though, as is evidenced by the release of Finding Nemo.

The game closely follows the plot of the movie. Nemo, an energetic clownfish, is captured by a human and taken home to a fish tank. Marlin, Nemo's dad, and Dory, a brain-dead but well meaning fish have to somehow track Nemo down and rescue him from the eternal boredom that would inevitable beset any animal trapped in a small glass container.

One of Three

Being that you are always playing one of three fish, much of the game consists of swimming around different environments. The only problem is that it never feels all that different. Levels in the game break down into one of the following categories: exploration, racing, and puzzle.

Exploration levels are the best the game has to offer, but even then it feels uninspired. Although the artwork is beautiful, the levels are broken down into bite-sized sections with goals that center around "bring item A to point B." Something a little more creative would have been appreciated.

When you first enter a racing level it seems to offer more than the game's exploration-style adventures. After all, you are speeding along, dodging enemies, and trying to make it to the end in one piece. This would all be well and good if the control matched up with the game's point of view. Sadly, it doesn't, and the end result is more frustrating than exciting.

The problem has to do with the fact that the camera is located a few feet behind your fish and the game's ability to display depth is completely lacking. For example, it is possible to completely miss one of the game's speed rings, even though it looks like you should have cleared it from the player perspective. Alternatively, you might dodge an obstacle with your fish only to have it block your field of view when it ends up between you and the fish; all too often this results in you running into an enemy because your view was obscured or running into an enemy because you instinctively tried to dodge the obstacle that was about to hit your viewport. This is such a basic design error it should have never made it past Q/A.

Compounding the control issue is the fact that Finding Nemo is a "one-hit one-kill" game. Unless you have found one of the guardian krill, a momentary touch from anything dangerous will end your life and send you back to the beginning of the level. Yes, you do have an unlimited number of lives, but the ability to take more than a single hit would have lowered the overall frustration level a great deal.