the "spooky" theme of the game, and that the smooth animation resulted in the enemies appearing "endearing". Ronan Jennings of Eurogamer was less impressed by the graphics, stating that the game "never blew him away" but always kept a high standard of creativity. However, Jennings did praise the animation and character designs. Reviewers of Game Revolution gave praise to the game's visuals, comparing them to be sharper and clearer to the visuals of Banjo-Kazooie, but noted that the character designs still seemed "tied down to the past", being more suited to the Nintendo 64 than to the Xbox. The game was criticised for its simplistic gameplay and lack of innovation. Gifford noted that the game's "biggest problem" was its unchallenging gameplay, stating that it was "repetitive"; he compared it to gameplay of the 16-bit era. Game Revolution stated that the gameplay appeared "interesting" at first, but grew tiresome the longer the game is played, despite its short length. Jennings noted that the gameplay was not "groundbreaking" and similarly stated that the game relied heavily on "what is practically 16-bit gameplay". The camera controls were another criticised aspect of the game, due to the control sticks being allocated for attack functions. Gifford labelled the "forced shunt" idea as a "terrible drag" which became troublesome during the latter half of the game. Game Revolution's review also criticised the camera controls, stating that the use of triggers to rotate the camera was "on the clunky side". Jennings, however, felt that the camera was "fine" and did not provide any obstruction. The game was similarly criticised when it was reviewed retrospectively as a part of the Rare Replay compilation game. Marty Sliva of IGN stated that it was among the games on the compilation that had "failed to withstand the test of time", describing it as "very boring". Similarly, Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer felt that the game represented Rare's "slump period", calling it a "particularly awkward gear change" for the developer. Despite its problems however, Whitehead also felt that the game "has a charm and character that is almost entirely absent from the AAA console space in 2015". Grabbed by the Ghoulies was nominated for the Console Family Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition at the 2004 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. The awards were given to London Studio's EyeToy: Play and Electronic Arts'