Since 1955, The Muppets have been providing light-hearted entertainment for adults and children across the world. Whether you’re 5 or 50, chances are you’ve seen The Muppets at some stage in your life, and chances are you still get a good chuckle from their furry antics.

The Muppets Movie Adventures sees the return of your favourite regulars — Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Animal, and more — starring as the heroes in their own blockbuster movie sets. Playing through each movie set sees you control your Muppet star in this action-packed platformer — solving puzzles, beating the bad guy, being the hero, and saving the day!

Ahoy there!

Being a game designed for children, the controls have been kept simple yet intuitive, and fully utilise all of the available controls the PS Vita has to offer. The D-pad/left joystick moves the character, X and ◻ control jump and attack, and both the front touch screen and the rear touch pad are used for puzzles. When coming across moments in the game where touch controls are required, the movements have been kept simple and easy for children to remember — swipe down to pull a lever, draw circles to turn a handle, and so forth.

As with any platformer, a certain level of patience and coordination is required when playing through each level; you cannot just “run and gun” with this game. This is great for children, as they will learn how movement, timing, and response times work in relation to their actions.

Hmmph! I don’t need you, Kermy!

Each movie set/level has a refreshing feel to it, slightly different controls/character abilities to the previous one, a slow but steady increase in difficulty and player ability, and is great for those with short attention spans. The first set has Kermit the Frog as a pirate in a pirate-themed movie, starting off with an introduction to controls as the level is simply left to right. The second stars Miss Piggy as a femme warrior in a spiraling tower, giving a different perspective as you spiral up and around the outside of a tower, and going through different doors which place you on the opposite side. Animal stars in the third movie, a spaghetti western on a moving train where your method of attack is projectile meatballs, as well as the enemy’s, so children must learn to dodge attacks as well. In a ghoulish and spooky movie set with vampire vegetables, The Great Gonzo makes his appearance in the fourth movie, throwing projectile water balloons that curve downwards — again, teaching children how timing works. And in the fifth and final movie, we see Kermit the Frog in a space-themed set, returning to save his beloved Miss Piggy, with the new ability of being able to double-jump.

So did anyone get the meatball/spaghetti western thing?

I’ll admit, I got frustrated during the boss battles as the touch screen attacks weren’t as responsive as I would have liked them to be (I guess I needed to learn how timing worked too). But honestly, some parts were quite difficult, and I wonder how a child would fare as they played through it. Replenishment hearts are very far and few (mostly one or two in each level), however in the event where your health is completely depleted, you are resurrected in the exact same spot with full hearts of health, so failing does not hinder the experience for a child.

The little stories that go along with each movie/level are just adorable and straight up funny, and work well with the overall feel of the game. The typical American film director voice-over can get a bit much, especially if you’re replaying an area over and over again. The repetitive lines are fun for children, and will probably result in your child running through the house repeating said lines. At least they’re working their memory for that, right?

Kermit Solo?

The Muppets Movie Adventures is a pleasant game for all ages, with great replay value for those who enjoy collectibles. The big kid in me thoroughly enjoyed her play-through of this game, and hopes that the big kid in you does too.