Planet 51

‘Join the Space Race!’

It’s a pleasant day on Planet 51 and sensible, young lad, Lem has his antennae focused on two things. His new job and a date with the girl next door, Neera. All does not go to plan and Lem finds his normal life turned upside down when a human space craft lands in his back garden and startled ‘alien’, Captain Charles T. Baker (Chuck) panics and takes off screaming. After finding Chuck hiding out at the museum he works at, Lem tries to help him get back to the human space craft orbiting the planet before the millitary catch up with them and remove Chuck’s brain. The game features over 40 missions and mini games and a new world to explore with Lem and his wacky friends.

Name: Jamie

Age: 10

What did you enjoy about Planet 51?

Jamie: I like the way that you can jump to avoid obstacles when you are driving. You press ‘B’ and you go up in the air and hover for like 2 seconds. You have turbo boost too, when you hold ‘A’. You can be three characters, you can be Lem, Chuck and Rover. The missions are racing and demolition derby and delivering things, like being a paperboy.

Was there anything you didn’t like?

Jamie: Yeah just one bit, the races you have with Voorde. He’s a nasty alien person. He always wins cause he goes really fast and crashes into me.

Did you have a favourite character?

Jamie: Rover, he’s Chuck’s robot. Chuck is the human astronaught. Rover has wheels but he’s like a puppy. You can be him in the game. In the film he loves rocks and in the game he has missions where you have to find special, glowing rocks.

What was your favourite thing about Planet 51?

Jamie: My favourite thing was that you can just go wherever you want on the map, you can explore the planet as much as you like. You can collect comics and stickers on your way. You can read the comic pages in the menus and the stickers go into an album for you to look at.

How much fun was this game?

Jamie: It’s pretty fun, yeah. I play it loads cause I like unlocking the vehicles. It’s a good game for kids who are 10, or 9, or 8, or bigger. I don’t think little kids would like it. I think grown ups would not like it… well maybe a bit.

Parent’s Comment: Jamie really enjoyed playing this one but I couldn’t see anything too special about the missions. He seemed to just be driving around doing nothing for alot of the game. But then he enjoyed the free-roaming most of all, it really did seem to chill him out.