Somebody once told me that hoping for a remaster of a licensed game like Shrek 2 wouldn’t exactly make me the sharpest tool in the shed. After all, the years start coming and they don’t stop coming, and expecting an Activision licensed tie-in game from the Gamecube era to make a comeback seemed about as likely as finding a talking donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy in your backyard. Against all odds, Shrek 2 Remastered is actually a thing. The question is, does this remaster still have what it takes to be an All-Star, or have my teenage memories been doing all the heavy lifting? There’s only one way to find out. Let’s get this show on, get paid, and see if all that glitters is truly gold.

It’s not as polished as you may remember.

Shrek 2 was an Activision joint released alongside the movie back in 2004. I had it for the original Xbox and remember having fun with it, but I have to point the fact I was 11, I’m a millennial who still thinks Shrek is the pinnacle of Western animation, and I was having equal amounts of fun with games such as the licensed tie-ins for Shark Tale and Men in Black II. Liking such a game back in the day, when I’ve always had an appreciation towards licensed shovelware, doesn’t clear too much of a bar. Playing this game in 2026 is a delightful experience from a certain point of view, but I also need to point out whether or not the core gameplay has managed to stand the test of time, and if Aspyr was able to properly port it without screwing it up.

The game was a traditional 3D platformer, less in the vein of Super Mario 64, and more akin to what Lego Star Wars would do a few years later. More fixed camera angles, a linear approach to level design, additional objectives, and the possibility to play as more than one character at once, with even full local co-op support if you had friends willing to play a Shrek game with you back in the day. In true licensed gaming fashion from back in the day, it loosely followed the plot of the movie it was based on, with the addition of new characters, extra objectives, and more than enough bloat to make a 90 minute long film become long enough to be worthy of a standard child-friendly game duration from back in the day.

Well, when you think about it, a parfait is technically still part of nature.

All of those elements are still present nowadays. Co-op is still the game’s main selling point, besides the novelty aspect of being able to play Shrek 2 on a modern platform. That said, I am not able to tell you this has either aged gracefully or has been remastered ideally. It is, by and large, a very simplistic platformer with camera and collision detection issues. One which has received a few resolution and framerate buffs, but by and large, just looks aggressively okay for the standards of the time, and not very impressive for nowadays’ standards, even when we’re talking about remasters. Cutscenes, for instance, are still stuck in a 4:3 format, for whatever reason.

Cutscenes are still stuck in the old 4:3 format. I have no idea why.

Now, that’s not say that there isn’t fun to be had with this port, but bear in mind its many limitations. I also have to commend the quality of the voice acting; no one from the movies actually voices their respective characters, yet everyone sounds incredibly legit. What drives Shrek 2 is its charm. It’s easygoing, nearly devoid of any semblance of challenge, somewhat replayable due to its addition of side missions, and, well, it’s a Shrek product. If you are a millennial, you will have a fondness towards it. It’s just how it is.

A few quick time events here and there, but nothing that spices the gameplay up that much.

This is a weird review, as I’m not going to be able to tell you that Shrek 2 Remastered is a high-quality product. Not only has it aged poorly, I also think Aspyr could/should have done better in its overall visual enhancements. That said, there’s something about Shrek that makes any 30 year old like me forget about their problems and just enjoy a trip back to a simpler time, with silly jokes and an easygoing gameplay loop. My takeaway is: it’s not a particularly good game. But if you’re part of the target audience, you will ignore its problems and be able to have fun with it. That’s the mystery behind Shrek’s overall appeal.

Shrek 2 Remastered is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC, Switch and Switch 2. The original version is available on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Shrek 2 Remastered was provided by the publisher.