Wonder World Amusement Park (E)

It's hot summer fun that needs sprucing up.

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About Our Ratings

Common Sense rates it

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details

Publisher: Majesco
Genre: Video Games - Mini Games
Release Date: 07/08/2008
Online Enabled: No
ESRB Rating: E
ESRB Explanation: Everyone
Price: $39.99

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that while the game can be a lot of fun, instructions on how to get to various areas of the park are non-existent. This might frustrate some kids. Also, the host spews his opinions without audio, and those opinions are fun but are sometimes nonsense. Your kid with either love this, hate this, of ignore it by scrolling through it.

Families can talk about old school amusement parks and fairs. Wonder World isn't about big rides a la Disney -- it's more about the family park near your home which has some old school rides and attractions. Which games or rides did you like playing most? Does this game come close to creating the excitement of going to an amusement park?

Message
Violence
Sex
Language

Message

Social Behavior:

The carnival barker/host can be slightly crazy, rude, and annoying.

Consumerism:

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Educational Value:

Some of the games require good reflexes and one is a logic puzzle.

Violence

Some shooting of targets -- like bottles -- is involved.

Sex

None.

Language

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Harold Goldberg

It's summer vacation and time to play hard. In WONDER WORLD AMUSEMENT PARK, you'll indulge in 30 carnival minigames, some of which are challenging, especially when you try to beat the high score. You'll go on five rides, too, in a quirky, tiny carnival setting. There is supposedly a story mode here, but it's nothing more than moving your boy or girl avatar through the five areas of the amusement park.

Wonder World could have been a very good game if the game makers had simply spent more time on giving the player a user-friendly experience. As it stands, it's a good game with various flaws, not the least of which the lack of instructions on how to progress in the game. Do you have to beat the high score in each minigame to move to a new area of the park? Do you just have to play all the games? Do you have to buy a special prize with tickets the host gives you to proceed? It's never made clear, not in the game and not in the instruction booklet. What a sad, frustrating, egregious error

Is it any good?

The minigames -- all of which are played with the Wii remote for shooting, throwing, and tossing (and sometimes with the Nunchuk for aiming) -- are intriguing and occasionally maddeningly hard. Plus, they have some twists to them. For instance, the version of Whack-A-Mole called Rodent Riot has special power-up moles that, when hit twice, double your score.

While some of the minigames can be repetitive, a few of the five rides feel like the real thing. In Sky Cannon, you are shot through the air and make like a wild acrobat in the sky. In Castle Terror, you'll see spooky things as you race.

How to play

Playability: Medium. It should be easy, but poor instructions limit the ease.
Reading Required: Light
Graphics: Medium. Not the best Wii graphics in the world.