It's not the worst game ever, but that doesn't make it worth it.

User Rating: 4 | Stuart Little: The Journey Home GBC
Normally, I'd insert some less-then-witty opening about what word impressed me most about the game. In this game's case, it's not even worth it, I need to keep the review shorter than the game.

Story:

Stuart needs to get home, while being chased by cats and mice. I'm not sure if those two groups are working together or not, the game doesn't bother to go into details. No mention is made of why he needs to get home, since he seems to be with his family for the first half of the game or so.

Gameplay:

It comes in two versions. The first two and last two of the eight levels are 2-D platformers, where you can walk at a crawling pace, run at a walking space, jump, and long jump. The long jump is of note because it's your only way to dodge attacks, besides ducking (which rarely works to avoid an obstacle). It sends you along fairly quickly, but is highly uncontrollable, and if you hit a wall while using it, you take damage. And there are a lot more walls in the game than enemies.

The goal of the platforming levels is to collect ten items. Sure, they may say you're supposed to reach the washing machine/bank/house, but that's a lie, even if you reach those goals you just have to travel backwards to find the item you're missing. And when you're done, you get an animation of Stuart eating, something, a password to mark your progress, and are whisked to the next level.

The third, fourth, and sixth levels are "racing" levels, where you're in a top-down view of Stuart in a car/boat, and you must once again collect ten items (there are only five total, but they reappear every lap), then hit the finish line, where you claim victory no matter who wins. The fifth level only differs from the other middle levels in that there are no opposing racers, and only ten items.

Overall, the gameplay is fairly bland, but also quite short. Most other games with such dull gameplay would get boring quickly, but here the game ends so quickly there's no time to be bored, you can seriously beat the game in under 15 minutes.

Graphics/Sound:

Boring. The graphics are a cross between a cartoon and a Gameboy (original) game, with the result that they work, but never get interesting. The music is a series of beeps and bloops put together in a passable arrangement.

Replay Value:

You can go back through "quick game" to play any level you want, or play some form of multiplayer I was unable to try. But that's only if you feel that a boring game isn't worth it until you're actually bored by it, a sentiment I do not share.

Overall:

I got this game for free, with the idea that if it were any good, I might have gotten it for a good deal. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and while I played it, I realized something. Sure, it cost no money, but it did something else even more valuable: Time. 20 minutes of my life spent on the game, and about that much on this review. Time I can't get back, just because I thought the game might be worth it.

This is why bad games suck.

Scoring:

Storytelling: 3/10
Gameplay Quality: 4.5/10
Graphical Achievement: 5/10
Sound and Music: 5/10
Enjoyment Level: 3/10
Length and Replay Value: 2/10

Overall Score: 4/10 (Not an average)