The Polar Express

All Aboard!

NA release: 2nd November 2004
EU release: 16th December 2004
JP release: N/A
Developer: Blue Tongue Entertainment
Publisher: THQ
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

The only thing I know about The Polar Express is that it’s a CGI Christmas film and that the children in the film (who are the main characters) look freaky. The ones in the game are even worse. The game follows the plot of the film, where kids board a train to the North Pole but a puppet scrooge steals their tickets, which might mean the kids get thrown off the train. You have to roam through the train trying to find the tickets the other kids are missing.

Each carriage features a different puzzle. Some have combat which involve picking up items and throwing them, sometimes with a giant hammer, some have stealth, others are simple platforming sections. Others can have block puzzles or other minigames, like a basic tennis style game. Then some just have you picking boxes at random and hoping they have what you need.

After a bit, you get to go on top of the train for a surprisingly long platforming section, and a terrible skiing section, before wandering around the train again. There’s certainly a lot of variety, it’s just a shame that none of it is all that entertaining.

Poor

The Polar Express really feels like a soulless video game cash-in on the movie. Providing so little for the parental holiday dollar certainly isn’t in the Christmas spirit the game purportedly teaches kids to cherish. No matter who you are, this is a train you’d be better off missing.
Avery Score, GameSpot

Remake or remaster?

Nothing for this.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get The Polar Express.