Review: Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for PS2

Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action is not so much a film tie-in as a game of the game in the film. It stars the superheroes of the "movie within the movie" finale of the Disney film, Chicken Little. Bear with me - it is fun. Chicken Little and his friends Runt, Abby and Fish appear in cut-scenes throughout, or as voice-overs, because the idea behind it is that it is them that are actually playing the game. Chicken Little describes it as "the prequel to the game loosely based on the movie that was loosely based on our lives". So at least it doesn't take itself too seriously.

There are four worlds to explore over 24 different missions, with a variety of weapons and employing a variety of evasion tactics. Depending on the mission, you control Ace on foot, Runt driving a tank or Abby piloting a hovership through space or across land. In each case you battle increasingly horrid robots, and come under attack from truncheons, guns and lasers. Collect credits by shooting everything in sight and you can buy stuff to make your task easier.

Voice talent can make or break a videogame, because no matter how great the graphics are, a third rate ham actor repeating the same few sentences for half an hour can rather spoil the effect. The best bit about this game is that Ace is voiced by the amazing Adam West - milking every last drop of super-hero bravado out of his part, just as he did as Batman in the Sixties television series, and doing a grand job of making it all very amusing.

Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Buena Vista Games. Bytes Online score: 7/10