Happy Feet

By Morgan Bates

Midway - developers of the recently released Ant Bully - are back with another WB movie tie-in. This time it’s based on a movie about the adventures of some crazy penguins. The Wii version will undoubtedly be the prettiest, as it's the only next-gen version.

If the name of this launch title made you assume the control scheme revolves around tying your Wiimote and nunchuk to your feet, you’re not alone. In this movie tie-in you play the roll of a tap-dancing penguin named Mumble (hence the title “Happy Feet”), guiding him through 28 missions using the wiimote.

After getting kicked out of his colony of singing penguins for a lack of singing talent, Mumble goes on a quest to woo his love interest, a young penguin named Gloria, using his tap-dancing skills. Over the course of the game, Mumble will grow from a cute baby penguin through to an adult – in a similar fashion to Link’s growth in N64 classic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – although it is unknown if this will have an effect on his abilities.

Missions take place over five different locations including water, ice and land. Mumble is equipped with moves to suit each environment, such as belly-sliding for ice and dash for ice. Along with fighting enemies, he will collect fish, snowflakes and trash, to help find his “happy song”.

It sounds fun on paper, whether or not developers Midway will use realistic ice sliding physics for the iceberg races will be interesting, and who doesn’t find tap-dancing penguins cute?

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