'Twas there once was a night so grim and so creepy

It kept everyone up, even though they were sleepy

They sat on their hands and waited for a story

Of thrills and chills and something that's gory

Tim Burton had returned to tell another tale

A journey we had hoped wouldn't be stale

Jack was back to save a scientist's brain

From good old Oogie who had gone insane

There were puzzles, backtracking, and many a rhyme

Ghosts and goblins and a little bit of slime

A ghostly dog, who else? Who knows?

You'll find your way by following his nose

You were given new powers – you could be Santa Claus!

The game's presentation deserves an applause

The graphics are stellar; the art is unique

Every character's disgusting, everyone is a freak

That's a big part of the unusual charm

But wait, hold it, we must sound the alarm!

There is one flaw that holds this game back

It's bound to the gameplay and our hero – Jack

Tirm Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas was a dark and original tale that made you think twice about Halloween ghouls. Designed from the ground up with creepiness in mind, the eerie cast turned Tim Burton's Nightmare into the most popular full-length claymation film of all time. Corpse Bride is the only film that has come close to matching its success.

More than a decade has passed since Nightmare's release and we still haven't gotten confirmation of a movie sequel. We do, however, have a semi-sequel in the form of the video game entitled The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. 

Classic scenarios were re-created for real-time animation sequences, while others were created to be fully explored. You never know when a villain is going to break out into song, though you can expect to hear music before and/or during almost every battle. (I loved the "Halloween" chant the first 20 times I heard it. After that, not so much.) Most importantly Oogie's Revenge is an action game with deep roots in the title Capcom loves to spin off: Devil May Cry.

Raziel used a Soul Reaver in his last adventure. Samonosuke used his own soul-sucking device in Onimusha. Dante, the gun-toting star of Devil May Cry, collects glowing orbs that are left behind by fallen enemies. Clearly the gaming community is trying to send a message: to make a good action game you must let players take home a piece of the dead, whether it's their soul, a body part, or an orb that's left undefined.

Jack Skellington begins his journey by acquiring a soul-sucking device of his own: the Soul Robber. Not the most original device by any means, the Soul Robber lets you collect souls and trade them in for priceless upgrades. Souls may only be obtained after the enemy is dead – they can't be extracted prematurely as they can in other titles. This builds a thick barrier between the player and his or her success for the first 30 minutes. It'll take that long to figure out the various control elements, none of which are overly challenging, but all have a certain level of expertise that must be reached before serious progress can be made.

Oogie's Revenge is a Devil May Cry clone with the exception that Jack's adventure is much slower and involves a LOT more backtracking than Dante would be willing to tolerate. The Soul Robber is long and stringy and can be used to punch or to grab and toss enemies. Fun stuff, but Jack's attacks are at least 50% slower than Dante's. 

Enemies re-spawn as soon as you return to previously visited locations. The number of enemies and the types of those that attack will change as different objectives are added to your missions. Jack will be asked (required) to run around in circles to complete all of the things that his so-called friends and neighbors expect him to do. I need a key to a door – let's go talk to this guy over here. He wants something in exchange, time to go back a few steps. It turns out one of these guys wants a cookie, I guess I'll have to backtrack a bit further. All this running around, all the repeated battles, and repeated scenarios, and the overwhelming desire to explore new territory were potential game breakers.

The game is saved by its less repetitive features, including but not limited to: clever boss battles, memorable music, and several environments that must be seen.

Oogie's Revenge's boss battles were inspired by Capcom's greatest titles, no question, but unlike the core gameplay they were not cloned from an existing title. Most bosses like to exercise their vocal cords while battling, creating one of the most original sequences gamers have ever seen. While you're attacking with everything you've got, the boss is throwing out clever rhymes that relate to the story.

To win you'll have to find the boss's weak spot, pierce it, and collect the falling music notes. No two bosses are alike – no weaknesses are repeated. Music notes may be collected to release a more powerful attack. The strength of that attack is determined by how many buttons you hit as they scroll across the screen. I normally hate that sort of thing. But it's put to good use in this game. In some circumstances you will have to reveal the weak spot (it might be protected), strike a few times and, before the boss protects itself again, and collect enough music notes and hit several of them successfully to unleash a full blast. 

Capcom is known for leaving notes and information surrounding objects in their games and Oogie's Revenge is no exception. "A guillotine, exquisite!" Jack says upon examining the one in town. "Just like the one I had as a boy." Enter the local shop and poke around for this hilarious banter: "So many terrible things to choose from -- how splendid!"

Oogie Boogie's note reads: "This lord of the flies, bugs and slugs once tried to snuff out Santa and pop Jack's Pumpkin Head. Now he's back to finish the job, and he's enlisted the help of the most treacherous trio of Lock, Shock and Barrel."

Gameplay: 7.5
Are your enemies feeling tired? Rundown? Sad and sluggish? Whip them into the shape using the Soul Robber! This invention is so incredible it can actually make your enemies disappear, bringing their weight down to nothing!

"That's incredible!"

You'll spend the majority of the game whipping enemies; the rest of your time will be spent running back and forth between levels. The frequent backtracking gets annoying, but given that Oogie's Revenge is like Devil May Cry and was developed by Capcom, it still manages to provide a memorable experience. I'm not going to play through this game as much as I played through Onimusha or Devil May Cry, but will I return to Halloween Town again someday? You bet.

Graphics: 8.9
From claymation to polygons, Oogie's Revenge is one of the best-looking games of the year. The environments, character designs and animation are amazing.

Sound: 8.5
The unforgettable sounds of The Nightmare Before Christmas resurface with new themes and new rhymes. Movie-quality acting from the same voice talent featured in the film. It's like you're listening to the film's soundtrack, voice overs and all.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.5
Oogie's Revenge's boss battles (including Oogie Boogie himself) are some of Capcom's best work. Oogie, the scientist, and that giant spider – the strategy needed to defeat these bosses will put a smile on your face. The musical aspect turned out to be a wonderful part of the experience.

The general game tasks are not nearly as inventive. You want me to bring the gatekeeper a cookie? Please! The story is good, but the excuses used to make us complete boring tasks are lame.

Overall: 7.6
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge is a slower variation of the Onimusha/Devil May Cry gameplay. It has its own original elements – Jack can dance around his opponents to evade attacks; he can be come Santa Claus to deceive enemies, etc. Unique boss battles make for big fun, and you will love exploring and seeing the different levels for the first time.