Welcome to Modojo, 
Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas Review
Written by Justin Davis on Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Creative use of license, tons of levels, great difficulty curve
Graphics grainy & unexpressive
Nightmare before Christmas is a considerably different use of this license than I expected (in a good way). I played the recent console Nightmare Before Christmas title, and was fairly disappointed. While not horrible, the game was essentially a fairly standard 3D action/adventure title. When I saw that publisher mDisney has a mobile release coming, I expected (not unreasonably, I don't think) a 2D action/adventure title of similar quality - passable, but nothing special.
Although Nightmare does allow gamers to step into the shoes of the infamous Jack Skellington, the game is actually a top-down puzzler with a heavy emphasis on pushing blocks. It's a strange use of the license, but still - better than another mascot platformer. The block-pushing genre has been done before. Many, many times before, in fact. But the length, variety, and difficulty of the puzzles set this title apart from the pack.
In fact, Nightmare is the only mobile game released this year that I haven't actually beaten. I spent several lengthy sessions with the title, eventually reaching the 75th(!!) level, and got so stuck I was no longer able to progress. The puzzles become deviously hard later on, but that just makes the "aha!" moment of realization that much more satisfying. There's nothing worse than a block-pushing puzzler that's too easy. When the puzzle solutions are self-evident, you aren't really "playing" a game at all. You're just pushing blocks. That's what makes Nightmare's challenge is so welcome
Additionally, the level unlock structure ensures that even puzzle neophytes should be able to progress and see much that Nightmare has to offer. Puzzles are unlocked in groups of five. Once three of the five have been completed, the next set of five are opened up. So it's always possible to skip the most difficult two puzzles in a set and still progress.
The puzzles themselves don't really break a lot of new ground. Jack must collect all the presents in a stage and then (safely) reach the exit. At first merely pushing blocks (actually, jack-o-lanterns) in clever ways to block traps and enemies will suffice. Later on all kinds of devious level design is thrown into the mix - conveyor belts, ray guns, all kinds of things are thrown into the mix. Later levels get downright intimidating. You'll sometimes enter a level with so many mirrors, presents, and traps that it's hard to even know where to begin.
Don't let the challenge scare you away, however. Nightmare is a tremendously rewarding experience. It's true that I eventually got stuck, but I'm confident that if I spent some time away from the puzzles and tackled them in a few days with fresh eyes, a solution would present itself. The best puzzlers require outside-the-box thinking, which leads to epiphanies of problem solving. The "oooh, I can move the block down there!" moments feel fantastic. The game tracks your steps and time taken in every level to boot, so even when a level is cleared, you can return to it to earn an expert score.
Nightmare Before Christmas fans picking up this game on a whim stand a decent chance of coming away from the experience unhappy, but mobile puzzle enthusiasts should consider this one a must-own.
