When films are adapted for release on video-game platforms, they are often given the cold shoulder by critics. This is unsurprising, given the game’s reliance on an established franchise in order to sell. After all, if an animated children’s film is converted into a game, the average six-year old isn’t going to consult online resources to determine the game’s quality. They will simply beg and scream for it, until the spineless parent yields to puerile pressure and purchases the game. However, the old stereotype of awful movie-to-game adaptations appears to be weakening in recent days. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs provides an outstanding example of a thoughtfully constructed title that holds its own as a solid piece of home entertainment for the family.

As the budgets for both films and games have skyrocketed over the last decade, production values have taken great precedence in game development. For Dawn of the Dinosaurs, no expense was spared in gathering the film’s all-star cast to once again fill the shoes (hooves, paws, etc.) of their digital counterparts.  While some familiar characters, such has Dennis Leary’s throaty smilodon, are played by different actors, most of the original cast seems to be back in action. Even Ray Romano is instantly recognizable as the appropriately long-nosed woolly mammoth.

While some movie games seem to rely exclusively on star power, Ice Age has taken no chances. The animation team has done an excellent job of bringing each character to life with cartoonish expressions and anthropomorphic antics galore. Obviously, children playing the game aren’t likely to learn much about prehistoric wildlife (the animals are talking, coexisting with creatures that have been extinct for millions of years, and so forth), but it may at least serve to spark an interest in paleontology. At its core, Ice Age utilizes several mechanics to offer a fun gameplay experience without anything shockingly inappropriate for young players.

Running, jumping, and exploring are all rudimentary elements of this platformer. Dawn of the Dinosaurs also manages to squeeze in such familiar elements as object collection and character upgrading, without making it too complicated for children to enjoy. Essentially, the player can collect bits of fruit found scattered throughout the levels. This fruit is understandably valuable during this frigid era in the planet’s history (how it even exists is a grand mystery, nevermind how it manages to constantly levitate above the ground). Once collected, the fruit can be used to purchase various upgrades for a character to increase their capabilities.

Playing as a variety of characters also helps to liven things up a bit. Manny the mammoth can uproot tree trunks, and swat aside enemies that might be a menace to smaller characters. Sid the sloth can make use of a fiery torch to melt cobwebs and slabs of ice, rather like a certain green-garbed hero that older players might be familiar with. Despite the simplicity of the mechanics, the pace is very nicely maintained throughout the course of even a single level; the game rarely feels too sluggish or too intense. One minute the player might be tossing snowballs at dim-witted dodo birds, and later find himself in the middle of a perilous prehistoric rodeo. Dawn of the Dinosaurs is surprisingly diverse in its presentation and use of mechanics in order to present a fresh gameplay experience.

Accomplishing various collection tasks can also unlock bonus material, such as concept art galleries and video clips. It is unknown whether these rewards will be sufficient motivation for children to play through the single-player game repeatedly, as I suspect they will be drawn to the fun gameplay itself. Since the campaign is not exactly epic in scale, the developers have included a number of multiplayer modes. Like the campaign, these modes are easy to pick up and play, which makes them a nice addition for kids with visiting friends. Being similar to the campaign also means that these modes possess little in the way of educational value; the design concept suggests that if you’re going to have the animals talk, there’s no need to keep anything true to life. If you don’t expect Dawn of the Dinosaurs to teach your children anything about these animals, then perhaps pure entertainment is acceptable. As a video-game, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is still one of the best things you could pick up for your child. It’s exciting, funny, and should provide hours of nearly guilt-free stimulation for the family.

Gameplay: 8.0
An excellent variety of familiar mechanics, accessible and intelligently implemented.

Graphics: 8.0 
Some rough spots that children won’t notice or care about, but great work on the characters.

Sound: 8.0
Crisp and slightly repetitive audio, but having Ray Romano makes everything better.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Nicely paced, though some areas feel too easy, even for children.

Concept: 7.0 
Nothing very new about it, but this is certainly a better effort than similar movie-games.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Simple and fun modes extend the replayability much further.

Overall: 8.0
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is easily one of the best children’s games to come along these days. A nice array of gameplay mechanics keeps the gameplay exciting, while the multiplayer modes ensure hours of additional replayability.