| 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. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that this game only plays on the Didj Custom Gaming System. It isn't state-of-the-art gaming, but rather an old-school sidescroller with cartoony charm -- along with a fair amount of math puzzles presented in an engaging way. Characters wield weapons to attack robots and enemies, but it's all done in a cartoony style with no blood shown.
NICKTOONS ANDROID INVASION is a 2D side-scroller that teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a fun game that breaks no new ground, you'll play as SpongeBob, Danny Phantom, and El Tigre as you try to stop the nasty Invader Zim and his robots from taking over the world.
As you move through the levels, you'll find them to play like an old school arcade game such as Donkey Kong. Your D-pad moves you forward and back and lets you duck, your "A" button lets you attack, while your "B" button allows you to jump. In each level, you'll find machines to enter which put you in a room with some arithmetic puzzles. Parents can choose which puzzles they want kids to play by tweaking the game online via the software that was included with your Didj system.
While this sidescroller is nothing new as far as gameplay goes, you'll find that the levels are very explorable. In one level with SpongeBob, you'll be asked to find hidden pigs, which isn't as easy as it sounds. There are some potent powerups, too, like a tornado attack for SpongeBob. The techno-ish music might be annoying for an adult, but will appeal to kids. However, the graphics of the characters aren't good because they're little sprites you can hardly see on the small screen. And save points are placed too far apart.
Overall, Android Adventure works for two reasons. The variety of humorous characters in the game makes you want to go forward and see what's next. And the arithmetic puzzles are presented with gears to pull and gizmos to click. And what kid doesn't like to press a button to see what happens? Still,the gameplay is dated, the characters don't talk, and there's no opening movie, just a series of slides that don't really tell you what the game's about. If it weren't for the cool Nicktoons characters, the game would probably receive one less star.
Families can talk about which Nicktoon character in the game you'd most want as your arithmetic tutor in real life. Would Danny Phantom be better than El Tigre? Why? What did you use your Bitz points on for customization?
| Platforms: | Didj |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Edutainment |
| Developer: | LeapFrog |
| Release date: | July 27, 2008 |
| Price: | $29.99 |
| ESRB rating: | NR |
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