| Product: |
Noddy: A Day in Toyland (GBA) |
| Date: |
08/01/07 (312 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Easy for the youngest Player.
Disadvantages: None.
The last thing I expected to be doing is writing a review on the Noddy game. However on New Years’ day I was happily playing another game on my DS when I had to go out unexpectedly. I left my mum in charge of my children and placed the DS in her hands. She regularly tells me how much she ‘detests those things’ so I guessed she would put it straight back down. But she did give it a shot although had lost all my remaining lives by the time I had put my shoes on.
When I returned I was quite surprised to find her still fiddling away, and she continued to do so for a good hour. She had obviously been bitten by a bug though because it wasn’t long before she picked up my sons’ Gameboy and attempted that. Realising the game was way beyond her and she would be better with a much simpler platform game I swapped it to Noddy.
There she remained for several hours before finally dragging herself home to bed. But she has vowed to finish Noddy off. In the kindest way of course!
I thought I had better get to grips with the game since she had asked for help a couple of times and not having played it could only guess, so this led to me playing, and now reviewing the Noddy game.
~~~The Game~~~
The game consists of 12 different levels. If you have ever watched the programme it appears Noddy is at the beck and call of everyone and expected to drop whatever he is doing to help, and it seems this game is no different. This game seems to follow along those lines.
The levels follow one of three patterns. The first is simply jumping up onto boxes and ledges to collect coins and other objects. The second is to jump through the woods from branch to branch, with a bit of toadstool bouncing thrown in and the last is to navigate Noddys’ car through a road of logs, boulders and animals whilst collecting coins and bells.
The bells represent Noddys’ lives and are displayed in the top left hand corner of the screen. Once these have all gone the game is over.
Fortunately at the Start screen you can select which level you would like to play so you do not have to start all over.
At the beginning of each level there is a very short story to explain what is happening and as to what Noddy’s next goal is. Although the game is for 3+ there will not be many who can read it at that age, however comparing it to other games aimed at pre-schoolers the wording was much simpler and clearer so any child who has grasped the basics of word building would have no problems here.
Throughout the levels you will meet all of Noddys’ friends such as Tessie Bear, Big Ears and Mrs Skittle. You will also come across the baddies in the forms of Goblins and that mischievous Martha Monkey. Each time Noddy comes across these he is likely to lose a life but can get round them by throwing them Muffins at Martha or bags of coins at the Goblins. These can be collected on the levels needed, and for every 50 coins collected Noddy will get another life in the form of a sparkling bell.
I managed to complete the game in around two hours but I do also happen to be a lot older than most of the players of this game.
But it certainly is easy enough for a child to not lose interest and for the game to be completed within a reasonable amount of time. The driving levels seem to be the hardest as you have to swerve from side to side whilst the screen in scrolling. But can be achieved if you can collect more bells that the amount of objects you hit.
If they do find it to hard or easy there is three levels the game can be played at, so should suit most.
~~~Music and Graphics~~~
The music starts with the well known Noddy theme tune and then changes on each level. You can turn the music off for the game (or have the sound down like me!) And there is also an option to turn the sound effects off, but children will probably enjoy the tinkling sound of collecting bells and also the tooting of Noddys’ car as he drives along the roads.
The graphics are very good, and very clear. If you look carefully enough it even appears that the wheels on Noddys’ car are turning round as he drives along. The only problem with this is that you do tend to crash as you are not concentrating on the road.
~~~Price~~~
The game is just under a year old so expect to pay around £20 for it in well known high street shops. I actually bought it in November when it was reduced in GAME to £9.99.
If you are happy to shop online then you might find a better deal, and currently you can buy it from £3 on Ebay, although I would imagine these are imports.
On the English version we have you have several different languages to choose from so I do not see that any imported problem would cause a problem in any case.
Since it has a choice of languages you can always change if you fancy a bit of translating to add to the fun. In fact it was quite fun playing with my little Oui Oui, as he is translated in French.
~~~Overall~~~
In all I would say this is a very good starter game and most suitable for pre-schoolers. In saying that my son is 8 years old and still loves it. This could well be due to the fact that we nicknamed him Noddy in his first few months of life due to his constant red cheeks and lack of neck muscles causing him to have a Nodding head, and hence he has grown up being surrounded by all things Noddy. (The things we do to our kids!)
I would certainly recommend this game and could not see why any child would dislike it unless they have a fear of bells.
Summary: An easy starter game, easy to read and learn. teaches the basics for many other games.
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