Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge Updated Hands-On

TOKYO--One of the few games that we didn't have to wait in line for at Capcom's Tokyo Game Show booth this year was Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. Continuing the story of the 1993 animated movie, the third-person action game will see you assuming the role of Jack Skellington as he attempts to defeat the Oogie Boogie Man and restore order to Halloweentown once and for all. The first chapter of the game that we got to play today was actually the same one that we saw at E3 earlier this year, but on this occasion we were able to play it through to completion and defeat Oogie in an unusual boss battle.

In the game, Jack Skellington is armed with a green, whiplike rubber sole that he can use to attack enemies from a fair distance away. In addition to just whipping the enemy skeletons and ghosts that we encountered, we were able to perform a more powerful attacks that saw the whip transform into a mace, and also a more unusual attack that saw the end of the whip adopt the form of a hand and pick up enemies--which we were then able to hurl at other enemies or just smash down onto the floor. The game is very easy to pick up and play, and it counts any successful attacks that you perform within a couple of seconds of each other as combos. It wasn't long before we were able to clear a well-populated room with a massive 150-hit string, and at one point we noticed that our glowing green weapon had taken on a distinctly blue hue, although we're not certain if that meant anything. You'll also be able to use Jack's whip to reach otherwise inaccessible areas, such as the secret attic above the Halloweentown town hall that we found our way into.

The highlight of our trip to Halloweentown was undoubtedly our encounter with the Oogie Boogie Man, who appeared to be composed entirely of thick black smoke. Every time we landed a blow on Oogie Boogie or the two ghosts that were accompanying him, they dropped brightly colored musical notes for us to collect. When we'd collected enough to fill what looked like an energy bar in the top left-hand corner of the screen, we were told that it was time for Jack to dance, and were promptly required to enter rhythm-action-game-style button sequences as the understandably bemused Oogie Boogie looked on. When the button sequences stopped, Jack performed a powerful attack on his adversary, the strength of which was undoubtedly determined by our success on the dancefloor.

Currently scheduled for release early in 2005, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge seems to be a pretty decent action game that's totally in keeping with the movie it's based on. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.

For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of Tokyo Game Show 2004.