N-Philes

Disney's Kim Possible 3: Team Possible

Posted by Matthew Warren.

A review copy of a game? For me? I couldn't believe it. After slaving away at N-Philes for the better part of three years, I was finally getting a game to review. I sent headmistress Desiré my mailing address, and after a short wait an envelope marked "N-Philes" arrived in my mailbox. I tore it open with boundless enthusiasm and held my prize aloft: Kim Possible 3: Team Possible. The iridescent box glittered under the strobe-like light of my ceiling fan. Kim smiled at me seductively from the cover, and I knew that this game was something truly special. I managed to keep my hands from trembling long enough to put the game inside my GBASP, giggled immaturely as "A2M" appeared on the screen, and prepared to spend the rest of the day controlling Kim, Ron, and Ron's naked mole rat on their quest to return their grandmother's photo album supplies.

Yeah, you read that right. The game is based on the premise that ninja-trained monkeys have stolen the Possible family photo album, and you have to recover it. Drakken is apparently involved as well despite you disposing of him in Kim Possible 2. Kim can run, walk, jump, kick, punch, swing from a grappling hook, hang from ledges, swing from poles, and do all sorts of fun things - and that's not even the tip of the gameplay iceberg. Pressing Select shifts control to Ron who can do many of the same things Kim can, but apparently is too weak to swing from poles or wield a grappling hook. Ron instead uses rocket boots to boost him onward and upward. That's not all Ron can do, however. At the mere press of the R button, Ron will reach in his pants and pull out a flesh-colored naked mole rat, who you can also control and make run up walls and turn wheels to lower ropes. The male has the ability to whip out a, uh, naked mole rat, while the female does not. Riiiight.

The graphics for the game are pretty decent. Some of the ropes tend to blend in with the backgrounds, but it's not bad enough to ruin the gameplay. Some of the colors are a bit muted in the earlier levels, and it seems that the game rewards you for progressing by restoring color to the levels. Between stages you're treated to a bizarre sort of cutscene featuring stationary cutouts of Kim, Ron, and whatever third character they're interacting with moving their mouth and/or changing their face to display an emotion while the conversation scrolls by in text form on the bottom of the screen. It's really quite boring and, unless you desperately care about Grandma Possible's photo plight you'll more than likely just skip through the seemingly forced plot-forwarding scenes.

Sound is ample. Nothing jumps out about either the music or the sound effects, and so I'd recommend turning on some Journey or Asia or something, because I'm going to be honest with you here. There's really nothing better than rescuing a senile woman's cache of photographs and scrapbooking equipment from Ninjitsu primates with a naked mole rat while singing "Heat of the Moment."

Where the game falls apart, though, is in the controls. They lag. You learn to adapt after a while, but there's no excuse for being slapped to death by a monkey while you're pushing the attack button. It's frustrating to have to plan your moves a split second ahead, moreso when the game requires you to press up to grab a rope in midair. It's not enough that the ropes blend in with the background – you've got to anticipate the moment that you cross the rope in advance and allot for time to reach it. The hit detection's pretty awful, too. I'd be lying if I said that the controls make the game unplayable, but they definitely make it unpleasant. Then again, I'm almost 20 years old. Kim Possible 3's not designed for somebody my age – it's designed for the kids who never saw the Bush Sr. administration. Knowing this, I let my 8 year old sister take the helm. What qualifications, you ask, does an 8 year old have to review video games? I understand that you want the best reviews possible for the money you pay to read this website, and so I made sure that I picked a well-prepared kid. My sister's impressive video game résumé includes singlehandedly beating the advanced mode of Super Monkey Ball, besting a few adversaries in Yie Ar Kung Fu, and safely delivering passengers in Crazy Taxi. You're in good hands here, so worry not. She sank nearly 8 hours into Kim Possible 3, never once complaining about the loose controls or the mediocre sound.

What, in particular, did she like about the game? "Nearly everything." A few areas had her stumped, however. More than once I had to show her how to use the naked mole rat to lower a rope and allow Kim and Ron to progress or demonstrate that Ron was necessary to pass a gap because of his rocket boots. Having to keep track of three characters and their unique abilities is a bit much for younger children, and A2M probably would have been better off leaving the game completely up to one character per level. Especially when one of the characters is as lame as Ron. "I hate using Ron. I'm so tired of him," was my sister's explanation for her insistence on repeatedly sending Kim to a watery death. I can't blame her, either. Ron really sucks in general.

This game gets an N-Philes score of B.

"This game is really fun. Can I keep it?"

"Yeah, whatever. I don't care."

This exchange pretty much sums up what a 12 year age gap means for Kim Possible 3: Team Possible. To somebody used to reflex-hungry games like Wario Ware or the videogame crack equivalent Meteos, Kim Possible 3 is nothing more than a platformer which could be very solid had the controls been tightened up and the audio enhanced before release. To a Kim Possible fan, however, it becomes an extension of the television show and takes on a interactive element unable to be experienced passively. The shoddy controls can be looked past as long as the forgiving gameplay and ample supply of lives continue to allow for Kim and Ron an opportunity to press onward. What grade do I think the game deserves? Nothing more than a C. My sister, however, feels that Kim Possible 3 is 100% grade A material. Should you buy it? If you're 8. Or want to make an 8 year old happy, in which case you're either a good person or somebody who hangs around a playground in a van with a bowl of candy. Weirdo.

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