| Around the World in 80 Days | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art depicting the charactersPassepartout,Phileas Fogg and Monique La Roche riding theflying machine. TheTaj Mahal and theEiffel Tower are seen in the background. | |
| Developers | Pick Up & Play(Mobile) Saffire(GBA) |
| Publishers | Thumbworks(Mobile) Hip Games,Disney Interactive(GBA) |
| Designers |
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| Programmers |
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| Platforms | Mobile phone,Game Boy Advance |
| Release | Mobile
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| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Around the World in 80 Days is aplatform video game developed by Pick Up & Play forMobile phones, and Published bySaffire &Disney Interactive forGame Boy Advance, It is based onWalt Disney Pictures andWalden Media's2004 film of the same name starringJackie Chan. The game featurespre-renderedcharacters and graphics, and apassword feature for returning to specific levels.
Like the film, the game set in the 19th century, and the player assumes the role ofPassepartout (portrayed by Jackie Chan), aChinesevalet hired by aneccentric inventorPhileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) in efforts tocircumnavigate the world in 80 days.
Around the World in 80 Days is aside-scrollingaction-adventure game. Set in the 19th century,[2] it featurespre-renderedsprites, and follows almost the film's storyline and most of its locations.[3] In the game, the player controlsPassepartout, aChinesevalet hired by an inventorPhileas Fogg in attempts tocircumnavigate the world in 80 days.[4] During gameplay, the player encounters various enemies along the way,[5] including warriors sent by General Fang.[4] There are four blue symbols scattered throughout each level; the player must collect all four of these symbols in order to advance to the next level. Collecting them also increases the length of thehealth bar.[6] The health bar depletes when being attacked by enemies or traps; when emptied, one of the remaining lives—dubbed as "vials" in-game—is used automatically.[7] Anextra vial is granted if the player collects 80 golden coins scattered throughout the game.[6]
The Game Boy Advance's R, A and B buttons are used for kicking, punching and jumping, respectively. Pressing the Select button at any point will display the controls.[8] Passepartout can perform various actions, such as sliding, jumping from wall to wall, and grabbing ledges. The player can also attack while jumping or crouching.[9] The game uses apassword function, which allows the player to return to a specific level in the game.[3][10]
A video game based on the filmAround the World in 80 Days starringJackie Chan was developed for theGame Boy Advance bySaffire,[1] a game studio based inAmerican Fork, Utah. It wasdesigned by Jeremy Throckmorton, Alex Rushton and Brandon Harmon; andprogrammed by Hal Rushton, Deon McClung and Karren Willard.[11] Saffire utilized a technique to render digitized sprites, as done on theirvideo game adaptation of the 2004 film,Van Helsing.[3] The game was announced by itspublisher Hip Games in May 2004, stating that it would ship with the film's release in North America on June 22, 2004.[1] The European version was released on October 15, 2004.[12]
| Aggregator | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| GBA | mobile | |
| GameRankings | 38%[17] | 45%[18] |
| Metacritic | 40/100[19] | N/A |
| Publication | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| GBA | mobile | |
| GameSpot | N/A | 3.6/10[14] |
| GameZone | 7/10[13] | N/A |
| IGN | 3.5/10[3] | 6.5/10[15] |
| Nintendo Power | 2.4/5[16] | N/A |
According to thereview aggregation websiteMetacritic, the Game Boy Advance version received "generally unfavorable reviews".[19] Marc Nix ofIGN described the gameplay as "a slobberknocker" and stated that fighting with boss characters are "just slugfests, some of which may prove too difficult to brawl through for young gamers even though the rest of the game is a cakewalk."[3] However, Levi Buchanan of the same site said that the mobile version "isn't even close to being the worse movie game on cellphones, but it's a far shot from the best. Average to the core, and likely not worth your download dollars."[15] Tim Ceradsky of GameZone wrote a positive review. He noted that the GBA version is "easy enough that kids will enjoy playing it", and praised its graphics, which "looks very good for the GBA".[13]
Games released in Europe: [...] Game Boy Advance:Tony Hawk's Underground 2,Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition,Around the World in 80 Days