I saw The Peanuts Movie in the theater when it released last year and I was very happy with it. It was a great homage to the old cartoons I watched as a child and seemed to really pay tribute to it’s roots all while making the movie feel modern.
So I saw the art for Snoop’s Grand Adventure I got very excited at the possibility of an updated Snoopy Flying Ace. So I was a little disappointed when I started the game up and was thrown into a platforming game.
Snoopy’s Grand Adventure takes place in the current Peanuts universe. Snoopy has just been awakened from a nap by Woodstock and is in search of Charlie Brown. I am certain it is because he is hungry. I usually am hungry after waking up from a nap. Snoopy starts his quest looking for for Charlie Brown and in doing so he stumbles upon different worlds in his own backyard. This is where I had an issue with the game. I know Snoopy and the gang have active imaginations, but I had a hard time believing that a space level, a jungle level, or classical music mansion belonged in this world. The enemies (while themed great) were all the same basic types. Floating bat-like creature, jumping creature, minion that walks back and forth.
What this game does very well are visuals. The characters look like they jumped right off the movie screen and into your living room. The levels are well crafted so you know exactly where you can and cannot go and there are plenty of secrets to be found.
Snoopy can put on a variety of costumes (after unlocking them at certain points in the game) which will help get past certain points or reach previously unreachable areas in levels. This adds to replayability of the game and achievement hunters will definitely be going back for that 100% collected every jelly bean in the game achievement. The levels are all pretty short and the boss battles don’t really add much. I finished the game in about 2 hours once I realized I can just fly through each level by attempting the highest route.
The intro and the main world “hub” makes excellent use of the classic Vince Guaraldi Trio song – Linus & Lucy. After that the music in each world gets pretty generic. The jungle has a tropical sound with percussion and the space stage has a very sci-fi feel to it. I wish more of the classic songs could have been used as it would made the game feel more like a Peanuts game.
The gameplay is very straight forward as you jump, float, and bounce your way through levels trying to find your friends. For the explorer in you there are members of The Beagle Scouts hiding in each level as well as 300 jelly beans to collect. You won’t be able to complete find everything the first time you play a level so if you are going for that 100% you will be going back and using some costumes. I rarely found myself dying from a missed jump or bad controls because the controls are really responsive. I did find myself getting hit a lot by enemies when I thought I was in the clear. Once you get used to Snoopy’s rather large hitbox you can get through levels without taking a ton of damage.
Overall Snoopy’s Grand Adventure was a cute game that was fun. It provided a nice enough challenge that I wanted to keep playing and finish it. If you want to sit down and play through a fun little platformer for a few hours, this is the game for you. Plus you get to hear Linus & Lucy when the game starts, and that’s awesome.
