Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Mario-styled action in which you draw parts of the game.
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

Not yet rated

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter contains cartoon violence. Your characters can strike with weapons including punching, bouncing off, and hitting bad guys with pellets from a "shooter" weapon. You can expect about the same level of violence found in a Mario game. The game requires players to draw characters, pieces of the actual environments, and many other elements. Drawing skills are not necessary. The game uses simple tools that help kids' creation come to life.

  • Your mission is to stop an evil character who has drained the world of color. Along the way you'll stomp on baddies to meet objectives.
  • As the "creator" in this game, players control the mood, look, and feel of the game, as well as building their hero. This puts some responsibility into the hands of the player, but objectives for saving the world are fixed, so your mission is always to do good.
  • The controls work nicely for the target audience and the paint tools should be very familiar to anyone accustomed to basic paint programs.
  • The game lets players drawn their own weapons such as swords and a "shooter" that fires pellets which bounce off and stun enemies.

What's it about?

As the Creator in the world of DRAWN TO LIFE: THE NEXT CHAPTER, players must drawn and bring to life a hero to save the peaceful Raposa people. An evil force has been removing people, bridges, and other objects from their village. You are asked to replace these missing items by drawing them into the game. The core of the game involves taking your self-drawn character around in Mario-like platforming adventues, in which you jump, run, stomp, hit, collect coins, and solve light puzzles. Not only do you create your main character, but you will also draw the sun, moon, and the look and feel of your game. Moreover, you'll have to draw weapons, power-ups, vehicles, bridges, and more in order to complete missions. The game provides a simple drawing tool complete with stamps, brush sizes, zoom-in/out views on the canvas, and a broad palette of colors. The Wii remote serves as the pencil, or, for the DS, the you'll draw on screen with your stylus.  in some instances in the Wii version, players will be required to fill in parts of the game in real time.


Is it any good?

 

Letting players actually draw and bring to life characters, vehicles, and other objects within a game is tremendously engaging. Even more fun are the moments where drawing is built directly into the game and you'll need create quickly during gameplay to complete an objective. Sometimes, you'll even have to draw while your character is in the air during a jump. The ability to create a custom look and feel to a game is a special experience.

 The drawing using the Wii remote, however, is a bit inaccurate and tough to control. With the DS version, you'll have more control as you're using a styus. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, because almost anything you make will effectively animate, but it would be nice to have a little more control in the Wii version. Also, the platforming gameplay involves a significant amount of backtracking, but young gamers probably won't mind. Overall, the game's innovative concept and solid puzzles, platforming, and charming story and characters make this a great game that the target audience of kids will love. 

Online interaction: Players can use characters they draw to take on opponents online in sports mini games such as soccer.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about whether making your own characters deepens your interest in the game. If you played the first Drawn to Life, was this a big improvement? What else would have made the game better?


This review was written by Alex Porter
Kid, 11 years old
July 18, 2010
 
Draw the world and your hero
You can draw your own hero and world and you try to defeat shadow creatures.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 12 years old
January 27, 2011
 
A bit to hard
This was a pretty good game, but i had two problems. 1. THEE ENDING, i mean what were the creators thinking?! I mean it could make a young child cry!! 2. If you play on the wii sometimes the controls are off, makeing some jumps impossible.

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 11 year old
January 6, 2011
 
has a tragic 'surprise' ending
My 11 yr old is in tears over the ending of this game. WHY in the world does a game for ALL ages rated E for everyone include the tragic death of BOTH parents at the end. I caution parents from buying this game. The kids invest a lot in the characters and get to know them. They develop a relationship with them in a virtual realm. THEN they are snuffed out...killed! It is a horrible "surprise" and has nothing to do with FUN, which is why I purchased this game for my child! I wish I never purchased it and I definitely think it should be rated differently. It is clearly not for all ages. It is not FUN to see anyone's parents tragically killed.

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Teen, 17 years old
July 4, 2010
 
great for ages 7+
this is a great game. it gets hard at times, but it is still very fun!!! i highly recommend it!!! (:

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Kid, 11 years old
April 3, 2011
 
ds vrsion is good
its a good game.nice graphics a decent plot fun levels and a brillent soundtrack.only one problem,talking.it can last for 30 minuites a cutsence.the chraters are enduring but they dont half prat on! this is about ds version

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Adult
July 6, 2010
 
Good for kids who aren't sensitive
I liked this game. However, it is not good for kids who are emotional or sensitive. At the end there is a sequence where there is a car crash and two people die. I cried a little at the end, and it could be a little traumatizing for younger kids.

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This review was written by Alex Porter
Platforms:Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
Available online?Available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:THQ
Release date:October 27, 2009
Price:$29.99-$49.99
ESRB rating:E for Mild Cartoon Violence

This review was written by Alex Porter

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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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