Coraline (video game)

Coraline, also known as Coraline: The Game, or Coraline: An Adventure Too Weird for Words, is a 2009 adventure game based on the film of the same name. In North America, it was released on January 27, 2009, a few weeks prior to the film's theatrical release. It was released on the PlayStation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS.

Plot
The fundamental story of the game is practically same as the movie, with minor distinctions.The basic plot go as follows: An adventurous girl named Coraline Jones has moved to the Pink Palace Apartments with her parents, Charlie and Mel, where she, longing for adventure eventually finds a mysterious parallel universe where all of her dreams and desires are fulfilled by a malevolent creature known as "the Beldam" or the "Other Mother". Thus, once she finds out the true nature of this world, she must face off and escape "the Beldam".

Gameplay
The majority of the game is characterized by smaller mini-games or small goals, which progress the story onward. Examples include helping her parents move boxes out away, or collecting apples for the neighbors downstairs.

Development
The game was developed Papaya Studio and Art Co., Ltd, and published by D3 Publisher around the same time as the movie. The game's score was composed and produced by Mark Watters, and was recorded and mixed by Tim Bryson at Robert Irving Studios (based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles) and Watter Music (based in Chatsworth, Los Angeles). The only three actors to reprise their roles from the film are Dakota Fanning as Coraline, Keith David as the Cat and Robert Bailey Jr. as Wyborn "Wybie" Lovat. The remaining roles are occupied by voice actors Kath Soucie, Amanda Troop, JB Blanc, Susanne Blakeslee and Dave Foquette.

Reception
Unlike the critically acclaimed film, the DS version received "mixed" reviews, earning a score of 50/100. While the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions received "unfavorable" reviews, 39/100 for the PS2, and 42/100 for the Wii edition. All three grades mentionedare according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Common Sense Media claimed that the game is too hard even for adults and it seemed incomplete.