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Back in my childhood days, my family and I would go vacationing in Croatia, and my mom would always buy me Garfield comics to read on the beach. Because of that, whenever I think of Garfield, I think of my childhood, and with a lot of fondness and nostalgia, so when I got the chance to review a platformer centred around the world of our favourite sarcastic, chubby, orange cat, I was really excited.
However, as soon as I saw that the gameplay reminded me more of Bubsy, and less of my favourite mascot Crash Bandicoot, I started to get a little bit worried. And don’t get me wrong, I wanted this game to be really good and fun to go through, as I believe that Garfield deserves a fun adaptation, but it turned out that it was more on the side of mediocre, and it gets dull faster than I’d like.
There is some fun to be had here, especially for younger players, but it doesn’t really reach the heights a mascot like Garfield deserves. I can't really put my finger on it, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that it could've been bigger, bolder, and better.
It’s not really the lasagna of my dreams, but hey, at least it’s not cold and mouldy.
A nightmare with a side of veggies
While this is my first Garfield game, it's not the first Garfield game. There were other games previously, and the list is rather long. The first one dates back to 1987, with the game Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal, which was released for PC, where our orange feline is trying to save Arlene, another cat, from the cat pound. Games came out for SEGA, different PlayStations, as well as handhelds.
When you boot up Garfield: Escape from Monday, you’ll find Garfield doing exactly what you expect him to do, watching TV and relaxing after a long day of doing absolutely nothing. And then, hunger kicks in. So as one does, he makes his way to the fridge and grabs his favourite meal - lasagna. What he doesn't know is that it's not a normal lasagna, but one that's filled with vegetables and not meat and cheese.
The horror.
He passes out from the veggies - understandable - and wakes up in Dreamland, a world tied to a vegetarian TV chef named Monday, which starts off as a world of foodie nightmares for our beloved gourmet cat.
In order to escape, Garfield needs to eat a bunch of junk food, which does sound like a solution Garfield would go for in any type of situation. And with how lazy he is, it’s pretty on brand for the whole adventure to take place in a dream, where he technically doesn’t have to move his body an inch.
He isn’t alone there, as the ghost of Chef Monday chats with him along the way, making sure he is aware of all the veggies around. Jon, Arlene, Odie, and his friends also appear, with a couple of villains coming in as well to cause trouble.
Garfield needs to make his way through the Dreamland, explore the world and defeat Chef Monday and his horde of yucky vegetables in order to wake up and return to his lasagna-filled world. When he reactivates his taste buds with junk food, he’ll be able to escape this vegetable hellhole and continue his regular schedule, which is eating, sleeping, and making sarcastic remarks.
Fighting the greens
Garfield: Escape from Monday is mostly a 3D platformer, although you will encounter some 2D sections mixed in as well. Unlike Bubsy, both the 3D and 2D sections play rather nicely, and it’s all pretty smooth, so you won’t be able to tell any difference except perspective, and both of them are enjoyable to go through. You'll also encounter a bird's-eye perspective, which might seem confusing, but it's not too bad.
The Dreamworld - which consists of around 40+ levels - is made out of three worlds: Veggie Nightmares, Sweet Kingdom, and Barbecue Desert, and it’ll take you around 8 or 9 hours to get through them all. If you want to move between stages, you can do that on the World Map, so if you're collecting trophies or going for the 100%, you can easily backtrack and clear out the earlier levels.
When it comes to the moveset, you’ll be able to do the usual stuff: kicking, jumping, wall climbing, and rolling around the world full of vegetables and all that healthy stuff as you’re looking for some of that processed goodness. The enemies are themed around the things that Garfield hates, so think tomatoes and corn among other things, while you’ll also encounter obstacles from things he likes, such as meat. Each world has enemies that you'd expect to find there; Veggie Nightmares has tomatoes and corn, while, for example, Sweet Kingdom has - you guessed it - different sweets.
However, the variety of enemies is lacking, and they don’t really make a big impact. I found that I can avoid most of the enemies and just run past them, with bosses being an exception, but even they also tend to repeat the same attacks. One of the bosses you need to defeat is Squeak, and in order to do that, you basically just throw a bomb back at him, hit the cabin of his robot, and then repeat that process while dodging his projectiles until he's done.
The platforming itself is smooth and isn’t that demanding. While movement in Bubsy was annoying and made me guess where I’ll land most of the time, Garfield didn’t have the same issues. What did annoy me was the camera, and not because it would go crazy, but because it would move a bit as Garfield walked. I saw zero point in this, except being forced to move the right analogue stick as I was moving the left one. Just let the camera move as it’s supposed to, guys. You get used to it after a while, but still it’s something that I feel could’ve been made a bit better. On top of that, I have a feeling that it might cause motion sickness for some players.
The good thing is that checkpoints are everywhere, so even if you do die, you won’t be sent back too far.
As you make your way through, at some point you’ll be able to get different outfits that give you powers, such as the Turkey costume, which allows you to fly temporarily, the Beachwear, where you can slide on the water, and the Cowboy, which gives you a lasso. The suits aren’t a bad idea and are a nice addition, but they are underused, as you lose them after the level is done and until you find them in the next one, so they aren’t exactly like power-ups from the N.Sane Trilogy. They would've been a fun addition to the gameplay if, after unlocking them, you have the option to choose which suits you want to use for a specific section, instead of simply finding them in a box before you'll need those powers.
The main collectables are, obviously, cheese, baked goods, and lasagna. Cheese you collect as you go, while lasagnas you can find hidden in the levels, and at the end of each, you’ll be able to see whether you managed to fill out the Yum-o-meter. If you manage to collect enough cheese in the level, you can also get extra lasagna slices. The more you collect, the more you’ll be able to decorate Jon’s apartment, which is also a mechanic in the game. If you’re looking for more challenges, there are also optional stages as well as timed lasagnas to collect.
Funky, colourful, and a bit forgettable
The art style is one of the best things that Escape from Monday has to offer. It’s similar to the era of PS1 platformers, which adds to the Garfield nostalgia that I’ve mentioned. It’s bright, funky, and vibrant, with graphics that look pretty good. Same goes for the characters; they are well designed and colourful.
The music, on the other hand, isn’t anything to write home about. The background tunes that follow you around the levels don’t really stand out, and they are mostly forgettable, even boring at times. They do fit the themes of the stages you’re going through, so they don’t feel out of place, but they also don’t really leave a lasting impression.
What I disliked was the way Garfield sounds. I can’t quite explain it, if you’ve been a Garfield fan and have consumed any of the media surrounding him, you’ll just know that something is off about him, the range and the cadence just seem a bit off. Yes, he complains and talks a lot, but it’s almost as if he doesn’t sound bored or annoyed enough.
Performance-wise, the game ran smoothly on my PlayStation 5, and I didn’t encounter any glitches or weird FPS drops, but I did notice some assets simply disappearing if you can get too close to them.
Half-baked, but still edible
I wouldn’t say that Garfield: Escape from Monday is a bad game, because it’s really not, and if I had to place it somewhere on the list of platformers, I’d say it’s better than Bubsy, but worse than Crash Bandicoot. If you are a Garfield fan, or nostalgia gets to you, this is one to get on sale, play through it, and probably leave it for your kids or nephews to go through when you want some peace in the house.
It looks really nice and fun, but it also tends to feel dull after a while, and a well-known mascot such as Garfield certainly deserved something bigger and better, with more personality and more style.
Escape from Monday has a lot of potential, and so does the character of Garfield, which is why I wish this game was in the oven just a bit longer. The younger audiences will enjoy it without a doubt, and even the older ones will surely find it enjoyable, but I doubt that they will think about it much after finishing it.
The comics I read as a kid brought me a Garfield I love to this day (I even loved the movies that came out probably 10 years ago or so), and while Escape from Monday wasn’t really the game I dreamed of when I was a kid reading those comics, it’s a decent snack while I wait for the proper lasagna.
The Good
Charming PS1-inspired art style- Colourful and well-designed characters
- Smooth movement and platforming
- Generous checkpoint system
- Rewarding lasagna hunt
The Bad
A janky camera- Repetitive enemies
- Costumes that aren't utilised fully
- Frequent gameplay interrupts and forgettable music
