Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this is a slow-paced video game that's perfect for young kids new to gaming. As kids get comfortable with controlling the characters onscreen, the game gradually increases in difficulty. Don't choose this game for kids who are seasoned gamers.
Families can discuss why they like this game. Is it more fun to play a game with a familiar character, like Miss Spider? What other characters would they like to see in video games? These sorts of questions can help even the youngest gamers start to become aware of how cross-promotion works.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
Little kids love to mimic older kids. But when it comes to playing video games, most Nintendo DS games are too difficult for young newbie gamers.
Little kids who want to learn how to play on the Nintendo DS need simple games that slowly increase in difficulty as they start to master the fundamentals of making characters do their bidding. MISS SPIDER'S HARVEST TIME HOP AND FLY is just such a game.
Young kids familiar with David Kirk's Miss Spider books or the TV spin-off will immediately feel comfortable with the world created in this video game because it resembles the world depicted in the books. Kids play with the vegetarian Miss Spider in her magnified world of vibrant vegetation, helping her family gather enough fruits and nuts to survive the winter.
Miss Spider's Harvest Time Hop and Fly features four games presented in 24 levels. They can be played within an adventure game, and, once unlocked, as stand-alone games. The games introduce kids to the basic skills needed to play video games, including how to use a four-directional game pad to navigate in side-scrolling and vertical-falling games.
Kids also learn how to jump over objects, perform super jumps, stomp through objects, jump onto moving platforms, and control a flying character.
In addition to these basic gaming techniques, Miss Spider's Harvest Time Hop and Fly introduces young kids to some of the unique gaming aspects found on the DS system: blowing on the microphone to make something happen on the screen and using the stylus to draw and tap objects during game play.
For example, in one game, players control a spider as he floats down from the sky, all the while collecting hovering fruits and missing obstacles. By blowing into the microphone, players make the spider rise back up to grab missed fruits.
In another, players draw circles around hanging fruit to make them fall on the ground for collection. At the same time, they tap obstacles to make them disappear.
If parents are willing to help read the instructions and tutorials, this video game is a good introduction for kids as young as 5 because it gradually introduces basic gaming techniques.
By playing Miss Spider, kids will be able to graduate to the more robust and sophisticated worlds of Mario, Yoshi, and others.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
 |
|
|
Violence |
|
|
|
|
Language |
|
|
|
|
Message |
|
|
|
|
Social Behavior |
 |
|
 |
|
CommercialismPart of the Miss Spider universe, which includes books and a spin-off TV show. |
|
 |
|
|
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|
|
|
Educational Value |
|
|
|
|
