Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a game based on the Lemony Snicket book series and film. The game is based primarily on the movie, which in turn is based on the plots of the first three books of the series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window. Players take the roles of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, solving puzzles, fighting villains and finding objects. Players encounter characters such as Mr. Poe, Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine, along with villains such as Count Olaf, the hook-handed man, the white-faced women, and the bald man with the long nose.

Gameplay
The core gameplay consists of elements of a platformer, a puzzle game, and a third-person shooter. The player assumes the role of either of the three Baudelaire orphans, and can cycle through them depending on the version.

The Baudelaires can eventually gain access to a multitude of inventions as well as ammunition throughout the game, which are mostly those that tend to run along the lines of things a child might actually attain, such as rotten eggs, bubble gum, bees, eau de toilette, and garlic, among other things.

Console versions
The three console versions have the same basic layout - players can switch between playing as Violet, Klaus and, at certain moments, Sunny. The game begins at Count Olaf's house, then progresses to Justice Strauss' home, back to Olaf's, then to Uncle Monty's house, then Damocles Dock, then Aunt Josephine's house, Curdled Cave and, finally, Olaf's again. Along the way, Violet invents things - Klaus's weapon — the Brilliant Bopper; her own weapons — the Fruit Flinger, the Reptile Retriever, and the Peppermint Popper; the Baby Booster, which helps Sunny jump; the Steady Stilts, which help Violet reach high places; the Uplifting Umbrella, which helps Violet Fly; and the Levitating Loafers, which can make Klaus fly. In the game, the heroes solve puzzles, fight Count Olaf's theater troupe, and collect puzzle pieces with the familiar eye throughout the series. If you collect 25 of each color puzzle piece, you reveal a place in your secret folder, which in turn reveals a picture where you can find a VFD package. This package reveals a special extra in the game, such as a making of featurette. Completing the game will also unlock the World Map, a sandbox mode similar to the Freeride game in Mafia, allowing players to roam around the various levels and collect more puzzle pieces and packages.

Game Boy Advance version
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) version is different in that players can switch between all three Baudelaires at all times. The game also features more places, such as Briny Beach. It is said to be harder than console versions. In The Reptile Room level, some reptiles are mentioned that never appear in the books. Also, there are less inventions but have the same effects as the other games, such as the Parasol Glider, which helps Sunny glide from platform to platform; the Water Pump, which helps Klaus spray and absorb water; the Grappling Hook, which helps Klaus swing from platform to platform; and the Apple Cobbler, which helps Violet shoot apples. Players must collect objects that Violet or Klaus mentions to make the inventions. Players must also talk to other characters to complete some quests or grab items that other characters are holding.

The player must collect pictures and butterflies for invention upgrades, movie scenes, and concept art. They must also collect book pages to use on specific places to either give you extras, keep going on the story, or makes it easier to get around.

PC version
The PC version has several differences from the console games. For one, players cannot switch between characters. The game keeps the player as one character, switching to another when necessary, and even separates the older Baudelaire siblings at times. Secondly, there are two new environments, Briny Beach and a horseradish factory (presumably the one that is discussed in The Reptile Room, The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography and The End). Finally, players have different inventions to make; the Smasher, the Lobber, the Lockpick, the Sprayer, the Lever Yanker, the Reptile Retriever, stilts, and a Grappling Hook. As a bonus, players can collect eyes; every ten eyes collected gives the player a poster for an Olaf theater production, and letters from the alphabet which start a word that gets defined. Some of the words, such as Quagmire, referring to the Quagmire triplets and Xenophobe, referring to a word Jerome Squalor mentioned to the Baudelaires in The Ersatz Elevator are from the books.

Reception
The game has received mixed to mostly positive reviews, garnering 63 out of 100 at Metacritic and 65-70% at Gamerankings. Some reviewers gave the game lower scores, citing the short span of the game, lack of replay value, easy difficulty and repetitive gameplay.

Cast

 * Liam Aiken - Klaus Baudelaire
 * Emily Browning - Violet Baudelaire
 * Jim Carrey - Count Olaf
 * Tim Curry - Voice of Lemony Snicket
 * Jocelyn Blue - White-Faced Jen
 * Donna Bullock - Aunt Josephine
 * S. Scott Bullock - Bald Man
 * Jay Gordon - Hook-Handed Man, Uncle Montgomery
 * Daniel Hagen - Mr. Poe
 * April Stewart - Justice Strauss
 * Kari Wahlgren - White-Faced Jane

Additional Voices by Robin Atkin Downes and Brian Stepanek