Coraline

Coraline for PlayStation 2 is a 2009 single-player action-adventure game from Papaya Studio and D3Publisher of America. Released in North America on January 27, 2009, it adapts Henry Selick's stop-motion film, itself based on Neil Gaiman's novel. The PS2 game casts players as Coraline Jones, an inquisitive girl newly arrived at the rambling Pink Palace apartments, where an ordinary move soon becomes a journey between her familiar home and a much stranger parallel world.

The adventure begins around the Pink Palace and its grounds. Coraline explores the house, speaks with her busy parents and unusual neighbors, searches for useful objects, and completes small jobs that open the way to the next story event. A concealed door leads to the Other World, an inviting reflection of her new home that initially seems designed to give her everything she wants. Its warmth and spectacle gradually give way to the danger behind the Other Mother's attention, giving the game the same central contrast between everyday life and unsettling fantasy as the film.

Exploration, character interaction, item collection, and puzzle-solving make up the core of the PS2 version. Coraline moves through 3D areas inspired by the film's locations, looking for clues and objects while following the story's goals. Interactions frequently lead into short challenges instead of combat alone, so progress can involve tasks such as target shooting with a slingshot, balancing, cooking-related activities, matching games, and other contextual mini-games. The mix keeps the focus on helping Coraline investigate what has happened rather than on building a conventional action-game arsenal.

The story brings together the people and creatures around the Pink Palace, including Coraline's parents Mel and Charlie, the eccentric Mr. Bobinsky, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, Wybie Lovat, and the black cat. In the Other World, their distorted counterparts turn familiar encounters into parts of Coraline's attempt to rescue her family and escape the Beldam's control. The console production also uses voice performances associated with the film, with Dakota Fanning returning as Coraline, Keith David as the Cat, and Robert Bailey Jr. as Wybie.

Buttons collected during play have a practical role beyond simply marking exploration. They can be used for cosmetic outfit options and for access related to some activities, encouraging players to look around the game's locations as well as follow the most direct route through the plot. The PlayStation 2 release is a third-person adventure on DVD-ROM for one player, designed around the DualShock controller rather than the Wii's motion controls or the Nintendo DS touch screen. That distinction matters because the DS release was developed separately by Art Co. Ltd. and is not the same console game.

Coraline arrived alongside the film's theatrical rollout as part of D3Publisher's licensed-game line. Papaya Studio's PS2 and Wii version was released in North America on the same date, while the Nintendo DS edition offered a different interpretation of the material on handheld hardware. For players interested in Coraline's 2009 screen adaptation, the PlayStation 2 game provides a self-contained interactive trip through the Pink Palace, the Other World, and the mystery hidden behind the little door.