Finding Nemo is a Licensed Game based on the Pixar film of the same name, developed by Traveller's Tales (console version), Vicarious Visions (GameBoy Advance version), and KnowWonder (PC version). The game follows the events of the movie (barring a few deviations) and uses clips from the film in place of cutscenes.
It was released by THQ on the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube on Spring 2003.
Finding Nemo provides examples of:
- 15 Puzzle: Several levels have sliding block puzzles that must be solved to progress.
- 100% Completion: Collecting all of the stars and completing all of the bonus stages will unlock an art gallery for you to view.
- Adaptation Expansion:
- The game has levels that are longer than the actual scenes.
- In the beginning, Nemo has to find Pearl in a cave before they go to school.
- One level goes into detail about Nemo's journey through the filtration plant, which only got one short scene in the movie.
- Inverted with the final level, which can be completed in about a minute while the actual climax lasted much longer in the movie.
- Adapted Out:
- Coral and her death are not seen in the game.
- Nigel is completely absent from the story and doesn't appear in any cutscenes. Notably, the scene of Marlin controlling Nigel to enter the dentist's office is skipped over altogether, cutting straight from Nemo being put in a bag to Gill rescuing him from Darla. Despite this, Nigel's model still exists in the game's data, suggesting he was going to be used at one point.
- Nemo's first escape attempt (that ends with him almost being killed by the tank filter) is cut and replaced with a training session with Gill.
- In the GBA version, the climax where Nemo and Dory swim down to escape the fisherman's net is cut, instead ending when Nemo, Merlin, and Dory reunite at the Treatment Plant.
- Advancing Wall of Doom: Both the Submarine and Anglerfish Chase stages has Bruce and the titular anglerfish act like this, with you needing to dodge out of the way in between certain intervals to dodge their lunging attacks.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Though dying will rest you back to the last checkpoint reached, any collectable or objectives completed will still be counted towards the level's completion. This means you can abuse the infinite lives you have to complete some of the more frustrating challenges like swimming through all the bubble rings.
- Blackout Basement: Depending on which version you play, some stages can be absolutely tough to traverse through due to how each system handles lighting. Regardless, Mask Search, Minefield, and Whale Chase are unnecessarily dark to the point where you can only see your character model.
- Bonus Stage: Completing a stage with all stars will let you play a bonus level for a chance to obtain another star. These types of stages can range from solving block puzzles, bouncing a ball through special rings, or going through an expanded part of a stage with additional obstacles.
- Border Patrol: In the level Mask Search, swimming too high up will make the Anglerfish swim out of the darkness and attack the player.
- Boss-Only Level: Anglerfish Chase is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, as all you need to do is survive long enough for Dory to read the address on the mask.
- Company Cross References: The ball you bounce in certain stages is the Luxo Ball, which has been around since Pixar's inception.
- Controllable Helplessness: A couple segments in the game have your character trying to escape from something much bigger than them. In both cases, you can stay ahead for a while (which is required to get all the bubble rings) but will eventually be caught once enough time has passed.
- The last segment of The Drop Off has Nemo trying to escape the diver, but, as per the movie, he is captured and taken to the fish tank.
- Whale Chase starts with Marlin and Dory swimming away from the whale. You can keep going for about a minute, but the whale will eventually swallow them, leading to the rest of the level.
- Fake Trap: The vines and urchins Nemo can encounter in Training With Gill and The Plan may seem harmful, but all they do is momentarily stun him. The bubble streams he can run into in all tank stages will kill him though.
- Flashback with the Other Darrin: The clips from the film that feature Bruce have Bruce's voice re-recorded by Jess Harnell, who voices him in the game.
- Forced Tutorial: The first level has one where Marlin helps Nemo to learn the controls.
- The Many Deaths of You: Dying results in a short cutscene of your character being hurt by the thing that killed them. Failure cutscenes also occur if you lose a target you're supposed to be following, you get eaten by something you're running from, or you run out of time during specific objectives.
- Marathon Level: Zig-zagged all over the place. Some stages takes no more than a few minutes to beat. Others can take up to twenty.
- Match-Three Game: One of the side missions in most of the levels is taking three colored pebbles- one red, one green and one blue- and placing them on a stump with the matching color.
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Nintendo Hard: The game gets incredibly punishing early on, since a lot of things kill you in one hit and krill don't respawn on death. - One-Hit-Point Wonder: Getting hit by any enemies or hazards will kill you instantly unless you have krill, then some of the krill swim away but you live.
- Racing Minigame: There are a few of these sprinkle throughout, whether as part of the main game's stages or as bonus levels. Strangely enough, only the first race with Nemo, Pearl, Sheldon, and Tad will reward you with a star upon getting first place. The other two races involving Marlin don't count.
- Reverse Escort Mission: There are some levels where you have to follow another fish to the end of a section, and missing too many boost rings will eventually result in a game over. These include Dory in Catch Dory, Bruce in Minefield, and Gill in Training With Gill.
- Scoring Points: The amount of shells you've collected throughout the level counts only for scoring that stage and nothing else. Considering this was way before the concept of console-based online leaderboards were a thing, the shells are all but useless because of it.
- Sidequest: The game features bonus objectives you can complete for extra stars, such as defeating every enemy in a stage or swimming through all the bubble rings.
- "Simon Says" Mini-Game: Several bonus minigames involve the school of moonfish mimicking other characters on-screen in a certain order and either Nemo or Marlin being tasked with replicating that order.
- Teamwork Puzzle Game: The Mask Search level has the player switching between Dory and Marlin to proceed. Dory is the stronger and faster one of the two and can move heavy objects, while Marlin's smaller size allows him to get through spaces and activate switches Dory is too big to use. Nemo also gets into the mix in the final bonus stage, being even smaller and slower than Marlin but unable to activate switches that Marlin and Dory can.
- Timed Mission: Some sections in certain stages will sport a timer where you have to reach the end of the segment before it goes off. It shows up briefly at the beginning, showing how much total time you have, and won't show up again until it's about to hit zero.
- Womb Level: Whale Chase involves Dory and Marlin trying to escape the innards of the whale that swallowed them.
