Introduction

Garfield has made his return to the gaming world once again with Garfield and his Nine Lives. Garfield still remains addicted to food which is how this game comes into play. Garfield is up at night eating as much as possible resulting in constant dreams about running around eating food encountering other animals. He experiences “Nine Lives” in each world he is up against something different.

Gameplay

Like the title hints at there are nine levels in Garfield and his Nine Lives. Each level has something that needs to be collected, saved or beaten. The Levels are all well designed and on occasion you will be required to backtrack because you missed something or forgot to save a friendly from its hidden location.

The controls are easy enough to get used to and can be used in different situations, kicking is used to take out enemies that block your path, ramming is used for boss fights as well as opening areas that have a wall blocking the way, and the downward smash can be used to open pathways through the floor.

The enemies and environments don’t put up that much of a challenge to make your way through easily, the only real obstacles are the candles in the third level, got me good a couple times and the breaking tree branches further on in. The enemies just pace back and fourth allowing you to just waltz up to them and give them a good boot in the rear.

Graphics

The graphics are done in a cartoon fashion which is perfectly fine considering the main character is from a cartoon series. The animals interfering with your dreams are all well animated even though they only pace back and fourth in a designated area until you enter their space.

The environments for each level are rather repetitive in that there isn’t much change to the look as you progress through the level, but they suit the situation you are in, for example the circus actually looks like your walking through the circus tent. The obstacles are also all animated to attack you at timed intervals or are just always active.

Sound

The music blended into the experience because I can’t recall any areas that really stood out. There aren’t any noises from just about every enemy present and you have to read a little blurb at the beginning of each level which doesn’t really tell you much, just enough to get the idea of what your doing in the level.

Overall

I’d have to say this is your average GBA game, not recommended for the hardcore gamer since it can be beaten in one sitting. I recommend this game to kids and people looking to pass time. It can take around an hour or 2 to complete depending on if you stop to collect everything, the 3 difficulty settings also allow you to go back and play again, so make sure to beat it on all settings.