The rarest of licensed games: one that's actually pretty good.
And it's actually a great, endlessly replayable game. Who would've guessed?
It follows the bare minimum of plot from the movie as Jack Sparrow has to find the key to Davy Jones' chest and ultimately face him.
There are about six main missions, so the streamlined campaign won't take too long at all. But exploring the dozen or so islands and finding hidden, identity-boosting treasures is where it shines.
Unlike in the original, this Caribbean is a living, breathing environment. There are passing ships during your open world travels, all of which you can ransack. There are around twenty five relics to find across the islands. It's easy to get lost in the scope of it and it adds much-needed length to the game, taking it from a two hour breeze to a seven hour adventure.
The graphics are crisp and colorful. Enemies look distinct. Jack moves with wonderful fluidity. The islands look lush and tropical. In short, it's a good-looking handheld.
The gameplay takes a little getting used to. Jack has a sword from the start and later unlocks a gun and several special moves. Better swords and "shirts" (health) can be bought with looted gold. Enemies are quite challenging at the start, but get significantly easier with the upgrades. That said, whenever Jack runs into an enemy, he takes damage and gets pushed back. Like in the Castlevania series, this leads to some frustrating platforming. There's not much of a solution except to get used to it. Ship-to-ship battles are engaging and fun, just like in the first game. But now you get to board the weakened opponent ship and raid it.
Last Words: This game actually leaves you feeling like a pirate of the portable Seven Seas. Fans of platformers or pirates should pick it up.