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Common Sense Note

Parents should know that this game has a spooky theme without being too scary for the intended audience of 5 to 10 year olds. It requires kids to use logic to figure out which character has the necessary abilities to get around a specific obstacle. Levels have multiple solutions, adding fun and replay value.

Families who play this game could discuss how each person has strengths and -- just like the characters in this video game. They also might want to talk about some of the spooky stuff in the oak tree. What's fun about spiders, ghosts and bats? Why do kids often dress up as scary creatures for Halloween?

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Common Sense Review

For more than four decades, The Berenstain Bears have been beloved characters in children's books and TV specials. Now, just in time for Halloween, Brother Bear, Sister Bear and Cousin Fred appear in the GBA game, THE BERENSTAIN BEARS AND THE SPOOKY OLD TREE.

Based on Stan and Jan Berenstain's book bearing the same title, the game is set in an enchanted old forest filled with spiders, ghosts, bewitched furniture, bats and other spooky stuff. The Berenstain Bears seek shelter in this forest during a thunderstorm and end up lost inside a spooky old oak tree. With the help of a friendly fairy, they find their way home. In the process, they locate a magic seed that can bring the old forest back to life.

Appropriate for children ages 5 to 10, The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree is a platform adventure game played on seven levels. Kids unlock each new level by completing the previous one and earning a password.

A level consists of four different games during which the player assumes the persona of Brother Bear, Sister Bear or Cousin Fred. Additionally, in each level, there is at least one cooperative game where the player can rotate between all three characters. These cooperative games challenge kids to reason out which character's talents they need to get around a specific obstacle. For example, Cousin Fred has the unique ability to use his rope to reach high places and shimmy across pits.

This Berenstain Bears video game is spooky without being too scary for the targeted age. The game play is challenging, but never so difficult as to be frustrating. And while some players might get annoyed to get to the fourth game on a level and "die" (in this game, the character simply loses its courage and sits down and cries), kid testers didn't seem to mind having to replay the previous three games because the games have multiple paths to success.

As an added bonus, the game comes packaged with The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat book.

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