Defendin' De Penguin

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Rudimentary tower defense game geared at kids.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game is easy enough for young kids to play, but it won't provide enough challenge or depth to satisfy older or more experienced gamers. Players build towers to hurl projectiles like ice cubes, icicles, and snow men at invading animals. When defeated, animals become stunned (stars ring around their heads) and they disappear.

  • The penguins build towers to stop animals from stealing their fish.
  • Players build towers to shoot obstacles like ice cubes and icicles at animals.

What's it about?

DEFENDIN' DE PENGUIN is a kid-friendly spin on the "Tower Defense" style of strategy games, where gameplay typically consists of players having to defend a town by placing siege towers and other defenses along the roads leading into it to repel waves of enemies. The game stars Little Blue, a plucky penguin who, with the help of Professor Profi's inventions, defends penguin villages in the arctic from animals who are trying to steal their fish.

A typical level is laid out with a town in the center and roads leading in and out of it. Waves of animals –- such as walruses, turtles, bears and wolves –- will start to walk down the road towards town. If too many animals are able to pass through town and escape with a stolen fish, you'll lose the level. Players must repel the animals by strategically placing towers along the roadside that hurl projectiles like ice cubs, icicles, snowballs, and even snowmen at them until they become stunned and disappear. Each of the nine tower type has a different range, speed and effectiveness (ice cube towers, for example, are effective against hard-shelled animals like turtles, while icicle towers are particularly effective against walruses). Towers can be upgraded to make them stronger, and players can control Little Blue to run around and pick up extra coins, power-ups, and fish.


Is it any good?

 

Defendin' De Penguin is geared towards the 12-and-under age group and is a decent enough introduction to the genre, but it will have limited appeal to older players owing to the simplistic and ultimately repetitive nature of its gameplay. Stages could benefit from being shorter instead of dragging on with little interaction required from the player. The game is also hampered by dated graphics (think Nintendo 64 era) and an overbearing soundtrack ill-suited to a strategy title.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about where they placed the towers to make them most effective. Could the penguins have come up with a better solution to stop the animals from stealing their fish? If you could design a new type of tower not in the game, what would it be?


This review was written by Erin Bell

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This review was written by Erin Bell
Platforms:Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Developer:Crave Entertainment
Release date:September 2, 2008
Price:$29.99
ESRB rating:E for Mild Cartoon Violence

This review was written by Erin Bell

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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