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The Simpsons Game (Wii)
by macaronlover22
The sounds are good as the original actors and actresses do the voices for the various well known characters. The pictures and various bits of sceneries are really cool as well. Also the graphics are OK regardless of the platform the game is played on.
However this along with the puzzles are probably the only good things about ... the game.
Whilst comedy (which I believe) is the funniest thing associated the programme, it doesn't seem to live up to it's expectations in the game.
Puzzles are fun, but the controls are not that responsive and jumping correctly as well as trying to avoid falling of platforms for instance can be a real issue.
Moreover the camera can be a real problem at times as what it annoyingly does is position itself in front of an object that my chosen character is standing behind, therefore I can't see a thing that my character is doing.
In addition the multiplayer options are very disappointing as there is no online feature and only 2 players maximum can play. Also during multiplayer there is too much waiting around whilst characters take turns to do things.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend this game as there are too many things that let it down. It seems like the game has been rushed in the making. In my opinion the money would be better spent on a DVD.
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uDraw Tablet including Disney Princess and uDraw Studio (Wii)
by carlz2001uk
For any of you who have lately rated my reviews you will be aware that we have recently bought a Wii (getting sick of typing that now!) and have been on the look out over the last couple of months for games that my girls will enjoy. Given that my girls are extremely girly and obsessed with anything to do with Disney Princesses, when I ... saw this in the games consoles section at the supermarket recently, I knew I had to save to get it for them. As the game was £50 including the uDraw tablet, the girls decided that they would use some of their unspent Christmas money to be able to buy it straight away.
I think this game is totally different to other games out there at the moment and perfect for young children who are learning to write and gain more confidence with games and their hand coordination. The concept of the uDraw is fairly simple, it is a wireless tablet which is used alongside games (there are now several on the market including Instant Artist, SpongeBob Squigglepants, Drawn to Life and Penguins of Madagascar) to enable drawing and colouring in as well as short games where you click and drag (much like the stylus with the DS).
This Disney Princesses: Enchanting Storybooks game allows your own little princess to enter the magical world of Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Rapunzel and Tiana. The stories come to life as they use their magic brush to complete various drawing, colouring and musical activities. There are also paint by numbers and a sticker book. The thing that I really liked about this game is it actually tells the stories as your child progresses through the games, rather than just having random mini games strewn here and there, they actually mean something to the child as they follow the story.
Within this game are 10 modes of play and are perfect from around aged 3 to 4 onwards (it's rated as a PEGI 3), with different activities such as spot the difference, magic search and musical tune up. Some of the games are a little more advanced, but this is perfect for our house as my eldest daughter (6) can complete the more advanced games, while my younger daughter (4) goes for the easier ones (sometimes with a little help from mum).
The games uses Opal 'The Keeper of Colour' to help narrate and guide in the game and re-colour the storybooks. As your child completes tasks, more will become unlocked, so they don't get bored with the same games all the time. Games which become unlocked include Snow White colouring pages and new colouring tools (a favourite in our house) such as Belle's Rose petal crayon (colours in with roses, much like a stamper) and a water colour brush from Rapunzel.
My girls absolutely love that when they have completed a colouring page or created something new, they can save their creations onto the SD card and then it can be printed. We have a stack of colouring pages they have completed printed in a folder, although I'm sure we have gone through a fortune of ink too! You can also upload your works of art to the uDraw website which is www.worldofdraw.com and your child can showcase to the rest of the world their works of art!
To use the wireless uDraw tablet, you simply dock the Wii remote into the tablet which then uses the battery power from the remote. It works in much the same way as the Mario Kart wheel. The tablets are available in either white or black but we didn't get a choice when buying the Princess pack and the white was supplied (slightly annoying as we have the black console!).
The graphics are fun, bright and very girly with pinks and princessy things everywhere! The bright Disney characters and colouring will keep the children engaged as much as the game play will.
This game and the uDraw is something really different and ideal to let your children express themselves and use their imagination freely. It is easy to use and perfect for younger children who are sometimes left out when older children have all the fun on games consoles. It is also a mess free way to let them go wild with paint!!!
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Wii Party (Wii)
by carlz2001uk
On my recent mission to buy games for our new Wii that we could all play, I came across this reasonably priced game and decided to look into it a little bit more. I was happy with reviews and ratings that it had received and so bought it for our family to play.
The concept is as the title suggests, one of Wii's collection of ... party games. I liked that the game is set out for good old fun and although the game is mainly aimed at being a multiplayer game, there are some games that can be played individually. Not that I sit and play the Wii on my own all night - I don't! - but sometimes the girls want to watch one us play but not join in.
There are around 80 mini games in this collection and are divided into three main sections. There are:
Pair Games - Best played in pairs but can be played on an individual level. Requires players to work in pairs to complete a mini game. A good one to try and boost your memory is 'Match Up' which is basically pairs with your Mii's. The only difference is you have to remember what colour each Mii is wearing.
House Party - Can only be played by 2 - 4 players but the games are much more interactive, giving you tasks which require YOU to move and not just the controller! The games can vary in the House Party section and include word games, quizzes and my favourite 'Hide and Hunt!'. This requires one player to hide all of the remotes in the room while the others have to find it, while the remotes make noises every 30 seconds until it is found. The winner is the player with the most points after each player has had a turn to hunt the remotes. This sounds so simple, yet has had our whole family in stitches as we practically pull apart a room to find the remote (in one instance only to find it shoved down my three year olds pants!).
Party Games - Based loosely on a board game, players must compete against each other in a set of mini games which they must win to be able to move around a board. The winner will be crowned the Champion. The games within this section are quite similar to the Mario Party games for anyone that has played this. This section of games require various levels of skill and lots of luck, so in my opinion this is a good game for new or younger players. We like playing the party games as a family and it introduces lots of light hearted competition. This can give the game suspense and excitement as it may not be too obvious (as with other games) as to who may win. In this section is the Bingo game (which I have to quite embarrassingly admit to loving!!), which plays with Mii characters rather than numbers. Each bingo card has pictures of the Mii's on and players must mark them off to complete a full line as you would with numbers. The game is mixed up slightly if a mini game ball comes out of the Bingo machine, which halts the game and see's all players take part in a mini game. The winner of the mini game then gets to mark off a Mii from their card. This is a fairly quick game but good fun.
Throughout the game there are opportunities to play mini games and some of these are highly addictive! One of my favourites is holding the remote as still as possible to avoid dropping parcels that your Mii is holding.
The graphics are fun and colourful, as seems to be the case with most Wii games. The content is based more on families and children as opposed to the stereotypical male orientated Playstation games, with the graphics tending to have an emphasis on a realistic style. As I have explained in a previous Wii game review, I tend to find that Wii games are almost innocent, which is definitely the case with this game, with players selecting a 'Mii' to play with and the bright colours and fun cartoon style graphics.
All in all this is a perfect family game packed full of fun and excitement with a little bit of light hearted competition thrown in here and there. This game really keeps my young girls attention because they can actually complete most of the games (with a little help), but its also good for playing amongst friends. I wouldn't say this was targeted towards any age group really and just aims to make you giggle. Good fun.
You can pick this up on Amazon for around £18 at the moment.
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