Despicable Me: The Game: Minion Mayhem is a surprisingly solid licensed game. Or maybe not surprising, since it’s developed by Wayforward. The only licensed game I played that was developed by them was DuckTales Remastered (which is one of my all-time favorite games), though I heard Wendy: Every Witch Way is pretty good. This is one of those games that makes me want to delve a little deeper into their library of licensed games and uncover more hidden gems. Despicable Me: The Game: Minion Mayhem is a puzzle game, which is probably not what you’d expect, considering it’s a game about Minions. I may be biased, because I haven’t played a good puzzle game in a while, but that’s how I felt about this game, I thought it’s solid.

The game plays similarly to Lemmings, though if I had to make my own comparison, it’d be Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, a game I actually played. The goal is to get a chief minion to collect a required item, then lead them to the exit. Aside from the chief minion, there are other supporting minions with unique abilities, such as sumo minions that can defeat enemies. Only chief minion is required to get to the exit, though getting others in time will grant more score. You can’t control the minions directly, instead you have to manipulate the environment around them to succeed, like activating platforms or ladders. The level and the timer only begin when you tap on one of the minions, so you can check the surroundings and plan your course of action. There are extra collectibles, such as coins, a plushie or Gru token, that can unlock extra levels, as well as being a necessity if you’re aiming for completion, as your performance will be graded with a medal or whatever that’s supposed to be, with the highest being gold “minion of the month”. The levels themselves are actually pretty challenging, again, you probably wouldn’t expect that because MINIONS. But that was when the first movie came out and that movie is generally viewed positively. The game keeps introducing new mechanics until the very end, which is nice.

That’s not to say the game is flawless however. I don’t really like how the game doesn’t explain a new mechanic on the spot. The game features “How to play” section, but to access that, you have to quit the level and level selection. I think utilizing clever level design, or making “How to play” accessible at all times would’ve been nice. Then there’s Gru’s House levels. These levels feature “despicable” gimmicks, such as rotating playing area to make it distracting. That’s not too bad, because the solution should remain the same. However, there’s another gimmick which I actually dislike - falling bombs. You need to tap them to detonate, and their drop feels random, sometimes dropping right before chief minion, failing the level, which is frustrating. You need to multitask minions’ actions and bombs which can feel overwhelming. There’s only one required level with this gimmick, but it’s still pretty annoying.

Graphically, I think this game is about average. The backgrounds and foregrounds are decent enough, and the minions seem to use pre-rendered 3D sprites. Notice how when you boot the game, it mentions a Woody Woodpecker license? I thought what kind of crossover is that? Turns out there are posters of him in Girls’ Room extra levels, which is neat. The music on the other hand is very good, it’s by none other than Jake Kaufman, of Shantae and DuckTales Remastered fame. I recommend checking out this game’s OST.

Still, I enjoyed this game well enough, and I may be compelled to revisit and master the game, as there are a couple of locked items in the main menu, so there might be some cool extras. Overall, a pretty solid puzzle game. If you don’t mind Minions… existing, you may find this to be a good time. It may not be wholly original, but the gameplay is good enough and most importantly, fun.