Tot TV Watch

Wonder Pets Save the Animals is the worst Nick Jr. show based game I have ever tried. Most of them I have played are barely educational, but this one is the worst with pretty much no educational value. Then again I do not hold the show in light of having much educational value in the first place. The game does at least resemble the way the plots and the show work with the player interacting to help the Wonder Pets save three different animals. Thus it might be something fans of the show, however parents should look elsewhere if they are looking for an educational game for their preschoolers.

The game’s graphics are good and much like the show or at least close enough to the show. The controls are easy, which is good for a preschool age game. However, the game is extremely easy to beat and it lacks much depth, which makes it not offer much entertainment unless the kid likes replaying the same adventures over and over a lot. I do appreciate it being an easy game, but with the lack of challenge I cannot imagine even preschool fans of the show wanting to play this game much. Perhaps entertaining enough for fans to rent once, but surely not worth purchasing.

Overall it is a sad attempt at a Wonder Pets game graphics wise. The game falls way short of being worthwhile, though, since it is not educational (something I think is important for preschool games) and has very minimal depth. Basically this seems like a quickly put together game to try to take advantage of the fans that want as many Wonder Pets things as they can get.

Last year I wrote a review for Go, Diego, Go! Safari Rescue for Nintendo DS and I kept meaning to rent and review the Wii version. I finally got around to renting the Wii version a year later. I was impressed with the DS one and to some extent the Wii one is impressive as well, but it also kind of disappointed me because it uses the Wii remote sideways. Both of the games are pretty well based on the double length Safari Rescue episode of the show, however both lack educational value and the Wii one is even worse than the DS in this regard.

The controls of the game are easy to learn and it does use some motion sensor ability of the Wii remote, but it is disappointing that it does not use any pointing controls. The graphics are pretty good and the depth of play is great as well, so it is not like it is entirely a bust of a game. In fact I think fans of the show will find this enjoyable and probably will not care that the controls have no pointing. However, the way the levels work with you just going through many in just a normal method like a regular adventure game with levels (i.e. you walk on a straight path, climb up ladders, and swing on vines). There are a few that you control to avoid obstacles and stuff along the way, though. Overall it is not bad, but it is disappointing that it does not teach much about animals like the show at least minimally does.

Dora’s World Adventure for Game Boy Advance is based on the Dora the Explorer “World Adventure” double length episode. It follows that episode’s plot quite well, but the game fails in several regards. For one the episode plot from the flashes of images is rather unclear unless you are familiar with the episode and thus can piece together what the images are saying about the plot. Also, I have played several other Nick Jr. games and never have I felt one fail so badly as this one at being very easy to play.

I feel that being very easy to play or at least having very clear in game instructions being very important for games for preschoolers such as this game. This game, however, fails to have any in game instructions for the most part. I did not find it hard to beat, but I have experience with lots of video games including other Nick Jr games which tend to follow a rather formulaistic format. Thus I only recommend even considering for those that have at least played one of the newer versions of Dora games, so they have the basic gist of how the different types of mini games work.

Overall I do not really recommend this game at all. Perhaps might be good for those that have already played all the DS ones and want to try another Dora game, but they might be disappointed in this way inferior version. The only real positive is that the graphics are good for a Game Boy Advance game.

Franklin’s Great Adventures for Nintendo DS is mostly an adventure game, but it also has mini games integrated into the game that can also be played separately. The controls are for the most part pretty easy to use, however, I found that level 3 was impossibly to figure out and frustrated me. The game seems to be a good one in terms of graphics and game play, but the impossibility of level 3 puts me off of wanting to recommend it. I imagine some can figure out the level, however, I also imagine that many young kids will have even more trouble with this game and this game should be made for young kids to easily play. Sure a challenge in a game is nice, but it just seems like too much of a challenge or at least too much of a challenge so early in the gameplay.

The game is not all bad, as it does nicely use the characters from the Franklin animated television series. It also has some good controls that use the DS’s unique capabilities including a mini game involving blowing into the microphone to race a sailboat. There is also some tracing games that involve using the touch screen. Thus I really think it is overall a well done game, but I just personally did not like that the third level was entirely frustrating and prevented me from being able to even try to beat the whole game. Bottom line is that I think it might work out for some Franklin fans, but it is probably best to rent it before even considering buying it.

Sony is trying to target female gamers by coming out with a limited edition Hannah Montana PSP Bundle on July 1, 2009. The bundle comes with a limited edition PSP colored lilac and stickers to customize the PSP. The bundle also comes with a Hannah Montana dancing and rhythm action game that is probably like the DS games based on the Hannah Montana show. It also comes with a UMD with some Hannah Montana episodes. It certainly sounds interesting, but personally I find the whole PSP system too complex and the game variety stinks in comparison to the Nintendo DS. It does seem a step in the right direction at least on the game front, though. I would still only recommend the DS, as it is the system with way more Disney and other kids television show games and educational games, especially since the new DSi is coming out in April 2009 that adds the good features the PSP has and the current DS does not, such as a camera (not sure if PSP has), photo editing, and downloadable games similar to WiiWare.

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The other day I tried out Cory in the House for Nintendo DS as a rental game. The video game is based on the Disney Channel show of the same name. It includes many of the show’s characters such as Cory, Neena, Newt, Sophie, Samantha, and President Martinez. It also included scenarios based on episodes, although the level episodes seem only loosely based on actual specific episodes.

The game’s controls and gameplay are pretty decent. The controls include using the X button to enter sneak mode and Y button to use equipped item, such as throw the exploding pastries. There are also some parts where you use the touch screen, such as levels where you tap to play the drums. The gameplay depth is pretty decent. It does not appear to be too deep, but it is better than the games for preschool shows, which tend to be played through in less than an hour. This game should take most at least a few sittings to play through and those that are big fans of the show might enjoy several replays, too.

Overall I rate this as a good Nintendo DS games. It might not make much sense if you have not seen much of the show, but if you have seen a lot of episodes then you are sure to find some fun aspects and similarities, such as the exploding pastries. The only thing that I downrate on this game is the graphics. The graphics are really low quality for a DS game, but it makes up for that with good gameplay.

Note: I have more screenshots of this game uploaded here.

Miss Spider’s: Harvest Time Hop & Fly for Nintendo DS is based on the show called Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. In the game you get to play as different characters depending on the level. In the levels you try to collect all the fruit in the levels. As you collect fruit you unlock more levels until you eventually beat the game with around 500 fruits total.

The levels are all pretty easy to play, thus most preschool fans of the show should have little trouble playing the game. Overall it is very easy to play through it and it might be boring for kids that are good at playing DS games. For beginners, which most of this age group are, this is a great game, though.

The games graphics are pretty good for a DS game. The sounds are okay, but then again I do not pay much attention to video game sounds.

The game controls use the variety of DS control capabilities. This includes using the microphone to blow the spider on a web up to slow it falling. These levels are unique, but can also frustratingly not work if you are in a loud area. In particular I was playing this in the car when we were on the Interstate and although everything in the car was quiet the wind sound of driving caused the spider to forever hover over the end of the level making it impossible to beat the level. Other controls include using the touch screen to tap away obstacles and circle fruits to be picked up. There are also levels that use the standard buttons.

Overall this is a pretty good game. It does not have much depth, though. It took me only a few hours of playing after getting past the frustrating hovering aspect. I think it would take young kids at least a little longer, though.

Cartoon Network Racing for Nintendo DS has gotten bad reviews, but personally I actually found it to be a decent racing game and have enjoyed many hours of playing it. It also came out for the PlayStation 2, but I have not personally tried that version and it appears it has gotten even worse ratings than the DS version, however considering I like the DS one maybe the PlayStation 2 one is not that bad.

Cartoon Network Racing contains some characters from 7 Cartoon Network shows. The shows are Johnny Bravo, Sonic the Hedgehog, Dexter’s Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasal, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and PowerPuff Girls. Most of these shows are not even on television anymore, so kids may be disappointed and uninterested because of this. Other than it not having any current characters I find little fault in the game. Besides when it did come out those were probably all current shows, so that is just a fault of becoming outdated.

As a racing game this, the only one better I have personally played on the Nintendo DS is Mario Kart. Cartoon Network Racing works pretty much the same way, although it does not appear to have the battle mode, which I do not even like anyways, but I do know some people like that mode. What I love about this game is that it is a challenge. It is not an easy game to beat and it actually gives some challenge to it. This may not be right for younger kids, but I think even kids from around ages 10 can appreciate it being a challenge.

One kind of annoying thing is that it starts with only one cup unlocked and you only unlock one cup at a time as you beat the previous cup. Also, in order to have characters in the hard difficulty classes you have to purchase then as well as purchase the unlockable characters. It is not that hard to buy them, though, as you pretty easily earn the coins you need in the races.

Overall this game is worth checking out if you like racing games and are a diehard Cartoon Network fan. Older kids that remember the old shows will also enjoy remembering old favorite cartoons and characters. Lastly it has an interesting drawing mini game that is a nice break from racing.

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody is one of my favorite Disney Channel shows, so I tried this video game soon after it came out. It turned out to be a big disappointment to the point that I did not even try the next DS game they released called Circle of Spies, although, perhaps they improved the game and fixed the cons at least to some extent.

The game has a few good aspects. For one, it decently recreates the characters and scenes from the show in that it has pretty good realistic graphics as far as a Nintendo DS game goes. Also, it has some good sounds, especially with the realistic character voices.

The cons, however, outweigh the good a lot. The major thing is that the controls are confusing and hard to learn. Also, there tends to be a lack of instruction on how to get through the levels leaving you confused and sometimes meaning you have to start the level over because you get a twin stuck behind. It is a nice challenging game for more experienced gamers, however, I am sure most interested in this game are kids that are not all that experienced with platform DS games. Some kids may be able to figure out the controls and then end up enjoying it, however, it is not worthwhile for most. If your kid is a diehard fan of the show, then rent it first before buying it because I think even most of the diehard fans will not want to put up with the frustrating controls.

Video games based on kids shows are not exactly a major genre of video games, but it has seemed to be on the rise recently. Mostly the games are pretty poor in game depth, but personally I think this is a positive thing, especially for games that are based on preschool shows. As I see it, these games aimed at preschoolers, such as the Go, Diego, Go Safari Rescue game for Nintendo DS, should not have too much depth or that makes the kids want to constantly play it, which is certainly not habit they need to pick up at such a young age. I do not think these games should be entirely avoided either because if used right they can keep kids entertained for short periods of time, but not cut too much into the time the kids spend doing more physical and interactive gaming (i.e. playing pretend safari outside with their friends).

Go Diego Go: Safari Rescue is one the best video games based on a preschool show I have tried out. The graphics are great (at least for a DS game) and it uses the unique capabilities of the DS nicely. This includes using the touch screen and the microphone. There are 25 mini games, although several are kind of repeated. There is a safari mode that you go through and end up doing all the mini games or you can just play the mini games without doing the safari story mode. Since the variety of mini games are limited, this game can get boring fast, but for kids that like Diego (and if you can find it at a good low price) this can be game they will enjoy coming back to for short periods of time every once and a while, such as when you go on trips and need something to distract them in the car or on the plane.

There is also a Wii, PS2, and Computer version of this game, but I really do not think it is a good game for use except every once and a while on the go. Main reason I say that is because it has basically no educational value to make it a worthwhile console/computer game. This is quite disappointing considering the show always teaches about animals and then they make a game that does not even minimally teach some tidbits about the animals you spot on safari in the game. It is even very limited in teaching Spanish, as it only uses the Spanish words for colors in a few mini games.

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