This is a must-have for any fan of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang.
Although the story is not remarkably long or captivating, it captures the essence and humor of the gang, ranging from Snoopy's trademark chuckle whenever he completes objectives to Lucy's classic "That blockhead!" when referring to Charlie Brown. Marcie and Linus stand out as the heads of intelligence, and Woodstock flies alongside you the entire game, occasionally lending a wing during a few of the boss fights. As someone who is usually offended by the Peanuts remake on television that were clearly not overseen by Charles Schulz, this game contains completely new material that perfectly matches each of the characters.
The game play within the storyline is engaging enough. There are several puzzles throughout the game, but they are not very difficult. They may take you a little while to figure out how they work, but you'll be onto the next set of objectives or over with the mission before they get frustrating. Although there is not a difficulty setting, it settles at a nice balance especially for kids and players new to the adventure shooter genre.
If you are afraid about violence, for a shooter this anything but. Planes that are shot down are replaced with parachuting characters following a small animated explosion. With the exceptions of the machine gun, some missiles, and a few tanks, all the weapons are cartoon inspired, such as the 16-gauge pumpkin and the water balloon launcher. The overall graphics look like they were taken out of a comic book, which really matches the feeling of the game.
As for the sound, the soundtrack is incredible. The menu screens have a lounge-type piano in the background that really does sound like something written by Vince Guaraldi, and the music during the game play matches the personality of the WWI Flying Ace. The voices are all children, and they are only heard during cinematics and the tutorial. Although they work great with the movies, you may want to mute Marcie's instruction after a little bit, and the tutorial directions can be read anyway.
Overall, I highly recommend this game. If you are someone who is really into more intense shooter games, you may want to skip this, but if you are a big fan of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, you really are going to want to check this out. I know I'll be playing it for a long time.