Software:Avatar: The Last Airbender (video game)

Short description: 2006 video game

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Developer(s)	THQ Studio Australia Tose (DS, PSP) Halfbrick (GBA)
Publisher(s)	THQ
Platform(s)	Wii, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Windows
Release	Xbox NA: October 10, 2006 Windows, PS2, PSP, GCN, DS, GBA NA: October 10, 2006 EU: February 9, 2007 Wii NA: November 19, 2006 EU: February 9, 2007
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Video Game (Also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in Europe) is a 2006 action-adventure video game based on the animated television series of the same name. It was released for the Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox. The game was a launch title for the Wii in North America. All versions feature an original story set between Book 1 and Book 2 of the series, except for the Microsoft Windows version, which features a different story, based on Book 1, and different gameplay.

A sequel, Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth, was released in 2007.

Gameplay

The Avatar: The Last Airbender video game allows the player to control one of four characters – Aang, Katara, Haru, or Sokka – in a single-player adventure. Each character uses his or her own trademark weapon and fighting style, and is able to earn new special abilities through experience gained from defeating enemies. A variety of items can help the player with quests, or during battle (armor, chi, enchanted accessories, and healing potions). The game also enables the player to collect certain resources and bring them to artisans to make special items. Enemies include classic Firebenders, machines, and a variety of animals from the show, mainly the first book.

The Wii version varies with regard to the "hot/cold" minigame where the player's controller vibrates to help the player find hidden items. When the player finds the item, in most console versions, the player repeats a rhythm minigame until having a successful round. In the Wii version, there is a calligraphy minigame with the Wiimote instead. In combat, the Wii version requires that the player swings the Wiimote while pressing the button for a special move (in Aang's case, swinging his staff down to unleash a gust of air to knock enemies down), whereas the other versions only require pressing the button while holding the right shoulder button.

Plot

While training at the Northern Water Tribe, Avatar Aang and Katara hear reports of a waterbender, Hiryu, going missing, which they investigate. They arrive at the Water Tribe as a Fire Nation ship attacks, led by Prince Zuko. They are able to fend off the attackers, but Katara is captured during the battle. Aang and Sokka follow the ship, but are slowed by a firebending machine.

They follow the ship to an Earth Kingdom port. They slip into the jail and release Katara, who informs them of another prisoner named Lian the Maker, who is being forced to make machines for the Fire Nation. When they arrive at Lian's cell, they find it empty, except for a map to an Earth Kingdom village.

They find the village under attack by machines. After fending off the machines, picking up Haru and being informed that one of his earthbending friends Yuan was kidnapped, they travel to the library of Omashu for clues to where the machines might originate from. The information from the library leads them to an uncharted island.

On the island, they find Lian, making more machines. She fears that Avatar Aang will not be able to master all four elements before Sozin's comet arrives. Aang refused her help, seeing as how the machines were disrupting villages. Lian then voiced her contempt for him as she sends a machine to fight them to flee to the Air temple, attempting to destroy the Avatar statues. They stop Lian, but Katara, Sokka, and Haru are all captured by another machine.

Aang pursues Lian and the machine to a fortress. After Aang rescues his friends, they find Prince Zuko, also captured by a machine. Upon rescuing him, Prince Zuko attacks the group. At the end of the resulting fight, the Fire Nation prince is knocked over a cliff and swept over a waterfall.

The four enter the fortress, where they find Lian, where she finished a machine being operated by the missing waterbender Hiryu, Haru's friend Yuan and a nameless firebender. Lian tries to attach Aang to the machine, but he battles it instead. During the fight, Katara is struck down, causing a furious Aang to enter the powerful Avatar State and destroy the machine once and for all, burying Lian under its rubble, killing her (though she survives in the portable versions of the game.)

As the four leave the fortress, Prince Zuko is seen crawling up on the shoreline, grumbling angrily, due to having failed to capture the Avatar.

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score DS GBA GC PC PS2 PSP Wii Xbox GameSpot 5.7/10 7/10 N/A N/A N/A 6.9/10 N/A 5.9/10 GameZone 6.9/10 7.4/10 5.9/10 N/A 5.5/10 6.9/10 6.4/10 6.1/10 IGN 7/10 6/10 5.1/10 5/10 5.1/10 5.1/10 5.1/10 5.1/10 X-Play N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Aggregate score Metacritic 63% 64% 60% N/A 59% 57% 56% 63%

Despite mixed critical reviews, THQ's Avatar: The Last Airbender performed well commercially, selling over one million units worldwide as of February 2007 and becoming THQ's top-selling Nickelodeon product of 2006. The game even went on to achieve Sony Computer Entertainment's "Greatest Hits" status for the PlayStation 2 on July 19, 2007.

External links

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions