A film game from Capcom; now that's unheard of. But if they make this a regular habit, then we're going to actually get some cracking film to game translations. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge follows the film nicely, as you get to play as Jack Skellington on a wild and sometimes very challenging adventure. While this game can't quite simulate the nightmare of relatives coming over before Christmas, it does a good job of keeping a player, young or old, entertained for hours.

The gameplay is quite simple when I think about it. It's almost like a hack and slash - with a couple of differences, obviously. The camera moves with your character from a funny angle, which almost makes the game feel like an old Resident Evil incarnation. However, the camera is not problematic; in fact, it adds quite a lot to the game. You can often miss hidden paths if you don't fully explore every nook and cranny and search behind every tombstone, so exploring can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the game.

Then add gameplay that doesn't feel linear. Oogie's Revenge gives you some sense of freedom in most parts of the game - if you want to visit the witches' shop for some health potions, then go right ahead! The level design really fits in with the movie and sometimes brings back memories of Medievil from the old PSOne - only this game is quite a few times better. Graveyards aren't the only places you'll visit though; as the game takes you through numerous different holidays, such as Christmas, for example.

Jack Skellington shouldn't be seen as a platforming character - he's a singing, walking, talking Skellington with a heart and great fashion sense. His moves are basic. He can dance around, which acts as either a good way of travel or a good dodging option. From there, Jack has lots of fighting moves, thanks to his Soul Robber - which is some kind of green smiley whip that wraps around Jack's right arm from the beginning of the game. Jack can whip monsters into shape, grab hold of the ghoulies and either use them as a wrecking ball at the other end of the whip to destroy other nasties, or throw the grabbed target away, ideally into another target. Other moves, like charging up the whip to grab a creature and spin it around and around, or using the whip as a shield-counter move are available, as well as a few more I'll leave you to discover of your own accord.

Jack can't jump, which is unfortunate, but considering the camera layout, this would have been impossible to navigate anyway. Instead, players are rewarded by using their keen eye to find secret areas and points that allow you to grapple onto with your whip - effectively acting as a jump. Secret areas, such as an open grave, normally lead you into a confined area where you will do battle with hordes of bad buys for a nice reward, such as money, a special item like a sculpture (for those people who enjoy collecting items to 100% the game) and things like life expansions that permanently upgrade Jack's life by one point.

In all the excitement, I almost forgot to tell you about the fighting engine. Be it in a confined secret space, or out in the open, the battle side of things has a feature that isn't commonly used in games; a combo system. It's no surprise to hear that Capcom actually built this game with the Devil May Cry engine, which probably explains those camera angles too. When you are faced with loads of bad guys and monsters, Jack doesn't lose his cool. Whip, whip, slap, dodge, dance behind another enemy, knock him down, dance to another, disarm him, dodge that flying bone - battles are frantic, fast paced and exhilarating. While you're doing all of this, songs from the movie are playing in the background, which compliments the dance movements in your combo fights. Racking up big combos not only feels rewarding, but when you complete a level, you are scored on certain aspects including combos, as well as damage, time completed and something called exclamation points.

Exclamation points add to the rewards you can get from a battle. You can taunt enemies and a successful taunt makes an exclamation point appear above their head, making them stronger but also giving your Sole Robber the edge, by instantly making it full charged for you to let loose. If you have full health, it's a good idea to taunt the enemies. It adds to the gameplay, it makes it more challenging and when the enemy dies, they'll drop more coins and goodies for you to pick up.

The game has an inventory and a map, as well as information files about enemies and allies - all of which bares an uncanny resemblance to Resident Evil. With an inventory comes more depth in the gameplay, as you are allowed to carry things that aid you on your journey (health potions and things that charge your Soul Robber up for a few seconds, making it super-powered,) as well as items that can be used to solve puzzles. While puzzles in this game can't be considered Resident Evil difficult, I will say that I've become stuck on more than one occasion. Not knowing where to go next is the most common trick; obviously if they told you where to go then it wouldn't be considered a puzzle, but a game that sports a 7+ rating and had me confused makes you wonder if a kid that age could handle the brain strain.

When you get back on track though, the game feels great. Everything is held together with the story of the film and the likeness in characters, in both FMVs and gameplay graphics with dialogue. Needless to say, this game is a real treat for Nightmare Before Christmas fans.

Some of the puzzles are hidden in the boss battles though. Possibly the best feature of this game is the ability to morph into different forms. Aside from the original Jack Skellington form, our emaciated hero can turn into a fiery Pumpkin, with a range of fiery attacks, such as the flamethrower - useful for taking down monsters and bosses made of ice (hint hint)! The other form sees Jack turn into Santa, where his attacks consist of throwing Christmas presents at people, with surprises that include poisonous gasses and bombs that freeze enemies. The best part of this is that you can switch forms on the fly, without loading times, so later on puzzles might require something from both types of forms - and it's up to you to work it out.

Another plus for boss battles is the music integration. As I mentioned earlier, when you're fighting enemies, music from the movie plays in the background, which is great. It's nice to have some properly composed orchestrations playing instead of the usual techno-pop. Some bosses take the music integration to a whole new level. When you're whipping them to death, they're singing their hearts out and music notes are spilling from their gut. When you have collected enough notes, you go into singing mode - a close up of Jack and then you have to make Jack sing in a musical scenario by carefully matching the buttons on screen with perfect timing. How well you do at this shows after your centre stage performance by how much health you just took off the boss. I adore these types of battles, they sound good, they look good, they last a while and they're a challenge too.

In game the graphics are very well done, spooky themes look scary, fiery themes look hot, and Christmas themes look Christmassy! The characters in the game are designed in that classic Burton style and I'd like to take this opportunity to say what a good looking and compelling character Jack Skellington actually is. His bony structure with his formal suits makes something that's supposed to be scary look really funny. Some characters do look frightening though, graphically nice, but scary for those 7 year olds! [Admit it Dex, you were scared too! Ed] For some reason the FMVs look a little grainy and sometimes Jack's stripy fashion sense can create fuzz around his bony body. On the whole though, level design and character likeness outshines the few graphical flaws here and there.

The sound is great; singing while you're slaughtering makes the battles that little bit more memorable and sometimes has you singing along too! Some boss battles in particular are great thanks to the classic music. Some of the music is made uniquely for the game too, so expect to hear some composed classics you won't hear anywhere else. Some of the monster battles in regular levels that sport the same music, the same song, can get on your nerves after a while, but by that time you should have changed themes and songs too. As the icing on the cake, the voice acting is perfect; you can sense Jack's emotion and everything comes across perfectly. Sounds for breaking bones are done well; were it not for Jack saying "Soul Robber" every time you grab somebody and the occasionally repetitive music, I'd be giving the sound a perfect score.

I can totally recommend this game for Halloween, or even Christmas if you haven't picked it up before then. See the film, buy the game and enjoy it. It's not always that simple, as some film games are the pits. Capcom and Buena Vista have done a great job in every respect, really bringing Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge to life. Sometimes it gets a little bit confusing and while the running around and hitting things is nothing new, this game certainly has some memorable characters. Twenty four levels and secret areas should last any player a while, but after that, there's probably not much reason to go back, except to relive some of the boss battles and maybe get perfect scores. Oogie's Revenge shouldn't be overlooked; it's like a work of musical art, with plenty of eventful gaming moments.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).