Let’s face it: Shark Tale The Movie is one of those films from the early 2000s that definitely did not improve with time and is way worse than most of us remember. Don’t get me wrong, the film has its dedicated fans who still enjoy it, but the reception it got at the time marked this film as one of the worst films in Dreamworks’s catalog. The video game adaptation, on the other hand, while not perfect in every way, actually garners more entertainment value than its movie counterpart ever did. It provides a fun gaming experience while not focusing entirely on the lackluster story of the film. It's one of the few times I believe the video game is much more entertaining than the movie itself.
Oscar is a fish who lives underwater in a fictional city called Reef City, he lives as a lazy underachiving Whale Wash employee who dreams of becoming rich and famous. One day he gets exactly what he dreams of when he is confused for killing a shark in the wastelands. However, things get out of control when a beautiful fish named Lola tries to steal Oscar away from Angie who has always had a crush on Oscar. Also, a vegitaratin shark named Lenny hides out with Oscar as they both try to avoid being detected by Lenny’s father Lino who is part of the Shark Mafia.
The Story is the worst part of the entire game. That’s not surprising, seeing that the story from the movie was not very good to begin with. Thankfully, the story in this game takes a backseat so that the other elements, such as the gameplay, can shine through. I credit that even though the game is almost a retelling of the story in the film, it creates different side stories and obstacles to make itself distinct from the movie. Another thing I appreciate is the times when the story events are told through a sort of documentary lens. There are several clips with just the main characters sitting and talking about the movie's events from their point of view, which is very refreshing and exciting. Speaking of additions, instead of clips ripped straight out of the film, the game creates new cutscene segments unique to the video game. It wasn’t necessarily needed, but I’m glad the creators at Edge of Reality took the time to create new cutscenes from scratch and hired voice talent to match the voices of the celebrities in the movie. The story may be bad, but thankfully, that is not the game’s focus, as most of the attention is garnered to the gameplay more than anything else.
The Gameplay experiments with many different gameplay styles. Most missions will have you swim from point A to B in a 2D plane while collecting pearls and defeating baddies such as Anglerfish and Phirannas. Other missions may include swimming away from sharks, dancing to popular music, racing against the clock or others, and even fighting hungry sharks and eels. This gives the game a tremendous variety, so the player doesn’t get bored with doing the same thing repeatedly. I personally enjoy the fighting and dancing sections as they make the game more exciting after completing a typical 2D swimming segment. The only drawback is that some gameplay gimmicks may be better than others. For example, the racing is slightly too simplistic, and the controls feel stiff to control at points. After each level, the player will earn points based on the objectives completed and get a higher rank on the fame scale, allowing you to unlock items in the bonus section on the select screen. The bonus section of the game is where you can unlock extras paid with collected pearls. The player can check out detailed storyboards and concept art related to the game or the movie's development, which can be pretty cool. Although some of the gameplay is better than the rest, I credit this game for its attempt to keep players engaged with multiple ways of playing it.
The Graphics look pretty good, considering that it’s a PS2 game. While it does lack artistry, this game benefits from exciting color choices. It shows us the grandness of Reef City or other locations around the underwater world where Shark Tale takes place. Sometimes, the game can look cheap when it reuses dancing animations for most of the dancing missions. Other times, the color palettes can set the mood for the scene, such as sneaking through Lino’s ship or making your way through the night streets of the alleyways while avoiding detection from police or the paparazzi. The fish character designs look alright but are much more appealing than in the movie. The level designs for the 2D swimming segments offer a decent amount of exploration and hide some secrets to complete bonus objectives. I prefer the graphics in the Finding Nemo Video Game more than this. However, I still admit that this game’s visuals set out to represent itself from the latter, and I say they ultimately succeeded.
The Music is the most interesting part of this game. The score features many original compositional tracks. Still, the game includes copyrighted music, such as U Cant Touch This by MC Hammer and Bad Boys by Inner Circle. My guess is that they wanted to capture the spirit of the movie, which has copyrighted many pieces of music. The result should be corporate, but somehow, against all odds, it works in its own strange way. The compositional tracks are done by Kevin Menthai and they do their job well enough even with many dramatic sounds and even bustling city sounds. The copyrighted songs are admittedly very fun. Edge of Reality picked some bangers to accompany the soundtrack as they match the spirit of the movie but also create a sense of upbeat fun. The compositional and copyrighted tracks merge suprisingly well together and the game all the more thrives with the music that is present.
The Shark Tale The Video Game is very good, considering it came from an almost universally hated movie. I can’t deny that the game’s overabundance of gameplay gimmicks makes it feel like it's trying to desperately find an identity. At the same time, the graphics look pretty decent, and the gameplay gimmicks that do work make the game quite a fun experience. The horrible storytelling from the film takes a backseat so the game can focus on the player having as much fun with almost everything else. Like many people, I may hate the Shark Tale Movie, but I admit I have a soft spot for the video game counterpart. My advice regarding Shark Tale is to skip the movie and play the game instead.
(Final Grade B+)