Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King Hands-On Impressions

Though Capcom's PlayStation 2 game based on The Nightmare Before Christmas stole most of the attention at E3, we also got to check out a side-scrolling Game Boy Advance action game based on the popular Tim Burton film subtitled The Pumpkin King at Buena Vista's booth. While the PS2 game is a sequel to the movie, the GBA game is actually a prequel and it will provide fans with even more of Halloween Town's misadventures.

The Pumpkin King is a side-scrolling action platformer in which you'll control Jack Skellington and use a number of different weapons to fight enemies and traverse obstacles. We got to see a number of weapons in action, such as a short-range green cloud attack and a transformation ability that let Jack become the Pumpkin King and then turn into a rolling ball of destruction. In addition to fighting enemies with these weapons, you'll also have to use them to break through certain walls that are only vulnerable to a particular weapon type.

Later on in the demo, Jack was joined by his friend and pet, Zero, who then ran around in the background like a sidekick. Zero's nose will light up when he's near any sort of hidden item or area, and in fact, he discovered a secret escape route hidden inside a fireplace. Once we accessed this area, the game switched to a minigame of sorts in which we controlled Zero from a third-person view while he raced through the chimney and dodged spiderwebs in an effort to get out of the house. This minigame, among others, will also be available from the game's main menu should you desire a quick diversion from the main gameplay.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King is due out in the fourth quarter of this year; look for more soon.