George of the Jungle and the Search for the Secret - E
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game is a tie-in with the new George of the Jungle television show. It's geared for early grade school kids. However, several parts of the game are inordinately difficult and almost certain to cause kids to either abandon play or come running to their parents in frustration. Violence is present in the form of punching, biting, and spear poking, but it is very cartoonish in nature. Note that this single-player game requires both a Wii remote and nunchuk to play.
Families can talk about the concept of licensed properties. How does the success of a book, game, movie, television show, or toy make companies want to transfer the license to other mediums in order to make more mone? Does the quality of the subject lessened in the process? The conversation can then shift to the idea of breathing new life into old franchises. Parents can talk about whether they liked the original George of the Jungle and then ask their kids what they think of the new version. Is there creative merit involved in recreating a classic show or is it simply a means for entertainment companies to make a quick buck?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chad Sapieha
Based on the television show George of the Jungle, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE AND THE SEARCH FOR THE SECRET is a basic side-scrolling adventure game that involves plenty of running, jumping, and swinging. Players use the motion sensitive capabilities of the Wii remote and nunchuk to make the game's eponymous hero to do things like throw switches, run into trees, and lift cages as he races through the jungle to collect pages of research that describe a cure to an illness suffered by his friends.
This could have a been a terrific game for young kids, providing the same sort of satisfying introduction to the joys of platform adventure games as Go Diego Go! Safari Rescue. And, during the first few minutes, which see players performing lots of fun and easy leaps and landings as they steer George through a bright and prettily drawn jungle, it appears to be that game. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for things to take a turn for the worse. Seemingly driven by the need to make some use of the Wii's novel motion sensitive functionality, the game's developers have made many of George's abilities dependant on complex and unintuitive physical arm and hand movements. Simple actions, such as running into trees to knock down coins, are consequently far more frustrating than they ought to be.
However, the game's biggest problem is combat. George's battles against apes, crocodiles, and a few other foes are clunky and tedious. What's worse, it takes only a few hits for George to be rendered unconscious, costing the player a life and sending him or her back to the last checkpoint. Get knocked out a few times and all the way back to the beginning of the level you go. The boss battles at the end of each level are even more maddening, thanks to a combination of clumsy motion sensitive controls and a lack of instructions explaining how to beat them. It adds a completely unnecessary level of difficulty to a game ostensibly designed for young children. The pity of it all is that combat isn't even a fundamental facet of platform games. Had George of the Jungle been made without any combat at all the game would have been an infinitely more enjoyable experience.
As already mentioned, Go Diego Go! Safari Rescue is a much better game for young children. Also try Dora the Explorer! Dora Saves the Mermaids. Older children looking for a deeper adventure will enjoy Super Mario Galaxy
Platform Notes
Nintendo DS
Though similar to the Wii edition in theme, difficulty, and entertainment value, this is a completely different game. It offers plenty of running and jumping antics, a few mini-games, and lots of apes with which to do battle. Unfortunately, it shares the wild fluctuations in difficulty suffered by its console-based cousin. We recommend the Wii edition over the DS, if only because it looks a little more like the cartoon upon which it is based.
Nintendo Wii
This is the version described in the review above.
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|||
ViolenceGeorge does plenty of punching, and his enemies try to jab him with spears, bite him, and poke him with horns. He can also be crushed by spiked trap ceilings and floors. The presentation is cartoonish, making it all appear quite mild. |
|
|||
Language |
|
|||
Message |
 |
|||
Social BehaviorThere's not much of a message here, except perhaps that it is okay to battle jungle creatures in order to save your friends. However, the game's strange looking witch doctor, who is little more than a grumpy, blemished, bushy-haired head with arms and legs, is a somewhat unpleasant representation of tribal peoples. Thankfully, he plays a very small role. |
 |
|||
CommercialismIt's based on the television cartoon of the same name. |
 |
|||
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|||
Educational Value |
|
|||
