Beauty & The Beast (GB) (Beauty & The Beast (GB))

Member Name: thole09

Product:	Beauty & The Beast (GB)
Date:	27/01/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Up to four human players without game-link cable

Disadvantages: Few audio effects

While not immediately obvious, "Beauty and the Beast" is a board game which features main characters from the animated film of the same title. Released to the Gameboy Color, it appears that this game was targeted towards children but is quite playable as an adult.

Gameplay is that of any typical board game but the producers made an additional effort in implementing various "mini games" for the player to engage with on each square. These games involve other popular "Beauty and the Beast" characters, such as "Lumière" attempting to stop a leaking cellar through the use of his candle flames. Players begin the title by choosing a character of preference and accepting the order of play as randomly generated prior to start. The player will then roll a dice, using the "A" button", and watches his or her character move across the board; intent on reaching the opposite end of the board in the quickest time. There is very little control actually given to the player in this game. The only time the player will really be involved with this title is during the on-square games and completing its designated task. Gameplay is usually very simple with the player only requiring to use the arrow keys and "A" button to perform a certain function. Up to four players can use this title by sharing the handheld console; no game-link cable is required to add additional human players. It is worth mentioning that there are numerous areas of text in this title which made use of a somewhat difficult to read font. This may cause some frustration to players but does not fully impact on gameplay.

Graphics are somewhat standard as far as the Gameboy console goes. It's likely that the producers of "Beauty and the Beast" could have given additional attention to detail as characters, such as Mrs. Potts, appear slightly square when the design would merit something more of a round appearance. Colouring itself was good and made use of a wide palette for visual enjoyment.

There is not much to review by the way of audio in this title. One constant musical composition follows the game board, itself acceptable and not showing any audible flaw, and this is silenced in favour of light sound effects during the "mini games".

An acceptable game, "Beauty and the Beast" would make a suitable addition to any player's collection. I particularly found the additional player option without requiring a game-link cable to be an excellent implement, and would happily recommend this game to buyers.

Summary: A worthy addition to any collection