Up the video game was developed by Heavy Iron Studios on the big consoles and Asobo Studios on dinky bois, and published by THQ.

It's safe to say THQ took its Disney contracts seriously because at least on a surface level, the quality is visible.

The game covers an interesting cliffnotes version of the film and captures a lot of the Pixar quality in overall presentation.

Gameplay takes the form of a Co-op puzzle platformer broken up by some log/bird riding, boss fights, and a random dogfight at the end.

I played the PSP version and quite enjoyed it, though I think if you have any interest in playing this for yourself, you should grab it on a console. The game was built for Co-op and I've no doubt it'd be enjoyable.

The core puzzle platforming levels that make up the majority of the game are reasonably solid. It's never particularly difficult but has a few tricks to keep players engaged.

Playing solo (though even the PSP had co-op through wifi which is beyond cool) the AI is surprisingly decent. The only real gripes I had were with some of the level designs and lack of polish in some places, but it was almost never the AI's fault. In solo mode you swap between the characters to use their different features to solve puzzles.

Mr. Fredrickson uses his cane to climb higher ledges, Russel can carry things, you occasionally take control of Dug and Kevin who have a long jump and a high jump respectively, dug can also go through doggy doors.

As you play through the game the boys also pickup some added tricks for dealing with dangerous animals and other minor problems.

The gameplay follows a similar progression to other successful B-games, by offering a ton of variety.
While a majority of levels were just co-op platforming and puzzles, there was enough of all the other level types to stop it ever getting stale, and there's enough different scenery on display to be interesting.

The collectibles are an interesting little bit of icing. I gave up on them by the halfway point but I can definitely see 100%ing this game if I played it as a kid and/or with a dedicated player 2. You compete to collect (or squash) bugs in each level. There's also butterflies for Russel and picture frames for Fredrickson which add a little extra gameplay if inclined, you get a little collection in the main menu from doing so.

There's nothing revolutionary in here, but like with many THQ projects of the time it's perfectly enjoyable. I finished it without ever getting bored or frustrated.
THQ games never fail to bring me back to something nostalgic with a perfectly competent clone of a better game.
I'd say they were taking a lot from games like cookies and cream here, but I'm sure there's a more prominent example.

I think it's easy to get cynical about these games, to say they served no purpose other than to cash in on the immediate success of the related property. And I won't try to claim that they definitely DIDN'T do that.
I'll just say that cynicism like that happens at a top level, below that is a bunch of game developers just trying to make something fun.

THQ games are fun to play, and that's all there is to it.

An early 16-bit action RPG with actually functional hit detection and physics? Where using items and magic (with the exception of the medallions) doesn't pause the screen and bring the action to a screeching halt?! Yes please - I wish Secret of Mana / Secret of Evermore took notes from this!

The sense of exploration and discovery is fantastic too - the game drops you in the literal middle of an open world and then nudges you to complete tasks in a somewhat linear order, but it almost always manages to straddle the line between "obvious railroading" and "guide dang it". Supplement this with the large number of minor secrets that don't have anything to do with your main quest but are just waiting to be found, and you have a winner. The world of Hyrule is the perfect size too - sprawling but not overwhelming. The near-perfect sense of exploration plus the decent action elements are enough to make me love this game sans nostalgia goggles, despite its flaws - of which there are quite a few!

I get that it's to be expected from games of this era, but some boss fights and dungeon rooms must have been designed by sadists. Icy floors, moving conveyor belts, darkened rooms, and graphical layers that obscure your view of the action are all present, sometimes in conjunction with each other. And of course Moldorm exists. And while the game is generally forgiving with giving you opportunities to heal, I think having your attacks get stronger as you lose health rather than having a ranged attack that you can only use at full health would make for more compelling gameplay.

Also, the open world works both for and against the game experience. Exploring and discovering new things is a dopamine hit, but backtracking through familiar places fighting the same enemies starts to feel like a chore - not easy enough to switch your brain off (powering through a dungeon you're overleveled for in a JRPG), but not tense enough to feel engaging (Resident Evil remake). I feel like the sense of tedium I sometimes felt when wandering around was linked somewhat to the plot's pacing - the extreme paucity of story beats made me lose momentum at some points, particularly in the game's second act.

As negative as some of the above points sound though, they can be seen as the game being a victim of its own polish. I'd been judging it against other mid-90s RPGs because it looks and feels and sounds like a mid-90s RPG. The fact that this was made so early in the SNES's life cycle blows my mind. This is the first Zelda game I've completed and I'm planning to follow it up with more - and while my impression of this game may evolve once I can view it in the larger context of the series, I can't imagine thinking of this game as anything other than excellent.