Boy, animated films aren't what they used to be, are they? It used to be all about typical animation fare that didn't have a stitch of computer work come into play. Simplicity at its best. But nowadays, we have all sorts of computer-animated fare with wink-in-the-eye humor. It's a bit better, but one can't help but long for good ol' animation. Twelve years ago, Tim Burton and director Henry Selick actually took an even further whacked approach to animation, reintroducing the lost art of stop motion in a film called The Nightmare Before Christmas. While it didn't strike as big a chord with me as Burton's recent effort Corpse Bride did, I still found it enjoyable and fascinating to watch.

But that doesn't entirely mean that it's material for a video game. Apparently, someone over at Capcom's Development Studio 3 disagreed and decided to craft an adventure based on the film, titled The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. As the name implies, the bothersome ghoul Oogie is back for more terror after being stitched up by some of his cohorts, all while Jack Wellington, our skeletal hero, is away testing a new device. When he returns, Halloweentown is in disarray, and his favorite girl has been captured by Oogie, who's looking for, what else, revenge. It's up to Jack and his new tool of the trade to battle the elements of the night and save the girl.

The game's got no problems in the presentation department, as the graphics and sound perfectly capture the mood of Burton and Selick's masterpiece. Jack and the others animate very well, just as they did in the film, although there is a slight bit of oddity watching them as computer-generated figures instead of stop-motion ones. I'm sure it's something to settle into. Some of the backgrounds also look fantastic, complete with moonlit streets and haunted areas just loaded with enemies. As far as sound, the music is pure Danny Elfman, the man who composed the film score, although it tends to get slightly repetitive over time. (Plus, let's face it, singing the same song over and over isn't everyone's speed.) The voicework is also dedicated and won't create unmeant laughs in the process, and the sound effects, while meager, fill their part.

Ah, but if that were only enough. Sadly, the game lapses in many areas. The first involves the level design. It's just poorly done, in terms of trying to find your way or locating an item to get through a locked door that suddenly provides access at randomly given points. Worse yet, a lot of these levels rely on annoying backtracking, which means you have to go back and forth through a level to get things in order to proceed ahead. It's kind of like having to rewind the movie itself six times just to understand a plot point before you go ahead- the momentum is lost in the process.

The gameplay also fails to motivate. Skellington's "Soul Robber" is a neat little whip device that has some moves to it, but the device really fails to come in truly handy except for a couple of boss fights that are noteworthy, especially when you take on Oogie at the end. But it gets repetitive rather quickly, and it would've been nice to have Jack provide a couple of slick moves to his arsenal instead of relying on his weapon of choice.

The game's got a few hours of gameplay within it, if you can stand the frustrations it provides, and there are some unlockable extras that will cater to fans, including new costumes for Jack, figurines, art, and more. But they seem to lean towards fans of the movie and don't offer anything in general other than cosmetic achievements, and you don't just go through a game for the sake of cosmetic achievements. Not this one, anyway. Dead Or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball, I would probably, but Jack is no Kasumi.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge does try to inspire with its appearance and its license, but it fails to come alive with the kind of mesmerizing gameplay it so rightfully deserved. I suppose fans of the movie will want to give it a chance and get back to Halloweentown, but, me, I seek something just a bit more in terms of substance. To sum it up as Jack might put it...

A pretty face is always kind, but I seek something more,
A heart, a brain, a priceless soul, give me something to explore!
If all you are is surface, then I must leave you behind,
Besides, if I kept digging, would I really like what I find?