Many fond memories of my childhood began to flood my mind when Casper: Spirit Dimensions was handed to us by TDK Mediactive. The friendly ghost had appeared in hundreds of cartoons over the past 20 years and beyond. Therefore, I didn't really know what to expect when a game based on the Casper franchise was announced. Early screen shots looked promising but as we all know beauty is only skin deep. If it is not playable then all the beauty in the world is wasted. And perhaps this is partially the result in the end product of Casper: Spirit Dimensions. It is very pretty, but the controls leave a lot to be desired.

This is game is quite beautiful to look at. The textures are varied, the environments are colorful and the lighting effects once again show off some of the more advanced features the PS2. Casper himself looks fantastic thanks to some good shading and lighting filters. Actually all of the character designs are surprisingly detailed throughout the journey. Although there are some limited draw distances in some areas, each level is very colourful and lifelike in design. Oddly, Casper has difficulty going through objects when you consider his excorporeal being. Regardless, he has the ability to phase through gratings and other items which looks brilliant. The visuals are nicely complimented by a full orchestrated soundtrack. Lucky Chicken, the developer, took some extra time to make the music extremely atmospheric that you actually feel like you are in a haunted house. Although the soundtrack is brilliant, at times it can become too repetitive and become an annoyance. The voice acting is pretty generic but fits the bill well for the younger targeted audience.

The storyline goes something like this: Casper must travel to 4 Spirit Dimensions in a quest to free the spirits from the evil Kibash. The control mechanism is great in concept but fails to work properly in a 3D platform game. The developer decided to use a FPS type control which is best described as the one utilized in Time Splitters. Considering that the license is aimed at the younger audience, those gamers will find maneuvering the game quite trying and become annoyed rather than enthralled. We experimented by giving the game to a 10-year old. He did not like the controls and ended up asking us to play something else instead. A different control set-up would have been more beneficial. For those who can get past the intricacies of the control, the game has a lot to offer and is quite difficult. The tasks tend to be like one big scavenger hunt. This is fun at the outset but becomes tiresome somewhere in the middle of the sixteen huge levels. As with platform games of the past, you must solve puzzles and seek a variety of powerups which aid in defeating the varied enemies. It would appear the difficulty of the later stages was increased to give the game some more play time but instead ends up causing frustration for those who have even made that far.

Casper: Spirit Dimensions would have been better received if it had abandoned the Casper franchise in favor of something more mature. However, for younger skilled players, Casper is worth a look in a marketplace that seems to be crowded with Teen and Mature titles this holiday season.