

Bee Movie Game
Spring 2008 Video GamesEarly in the game, Barry must find his way around the gigantic hive-city factory. He tries out for various jobs (read: mini games and puzzles), including collecting honey, delivering food and driving a taxi. For break time, there's an arcade with bee-versions of classic videogames.
But Barry wonders what life's like beyond the hive-in the world of humans. He gets a taste of that world after earning a job with the "flyboys," the aerial bee crews that collect pollen. All isn't sweet as honey in the real world, he learns. Flying isn't kids' stuff and dangers abound. Nasty battalions of mosquitoes and wasps turn the game into a clunky but fun flight-combat simulator. A rainy downpour is like the sky's falling for bees. And angry humans spell all sorts of trouble, though Barry does strike up a friendship with a kindly florist named Vanessa.
Barry's Bee New World unfolds in colorful, though not stunning, 3-D animation. Many of its graphics come from the flick, but overall the look isn't XBOX-amazing. The gaming is easy-to-medium in difficulty, more amusing than hilarious. It definitely plays to younger children, more like kids 8-10 than the 8-12 range Activision recommends.
Educational value? Other than seeing the world through what a human comedian thinks a bee's perspective is, not much here. There is an underlying sense of "Seinfeld" in the dialogue, interjecting moments of adult humor (not dirty) and casual cultural references kids won't get. But that's the trend in children's movies and videogames, isn't it? Though this game's not nearly as adult-snarky as Shrek and Over The Hedge. And younger kids won't even notice as they make a bee-line to its silly antics and cheery animation.