Goosebumps HorrorLand

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Subpar controls and repetitive game play mar spooky 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 this game is loosely based on the Horrorland series of Goosebumps books by RL Stine. The game features familiar monsters from the series including the Horrors who are the hired employees of Horrorland. Parents will need to consider their kids tolerance for scary things, because as the name implies, there are some frightening aspects of this game for younger children, especially on levels where the monsters creep toward the screen, showing their features in close detail.

  • Children in the game help one another to get out of the strange amusement park that is keeping them trapped.
  • Light cartoon violence throughout, ranging from hitting vampires with garlic to pulling worms out of a giant slug. This is a horror game with lightly scary content.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND is a collection of minigames set in a spooky amusement park. The main mode of play is the story mode where you're selected character receives a strange ticket to Horrorland, and with an onscreen friend, off you go. Working through each of the five zones of the park, you unlock various minigames each themed to one of the areas. As you complete and excel at games, you unlock new games and zones of the park, which can also be accessed from the main menu.Several of these games can be played by two players.


Is it any good?

 

Even though the game boasts 30 "thrilling" activities, it quickly becomes apparent that the number of the games is quite small. Many of the games are simply a redesign of the earlier games, with a new skin on them. And the controls are subpar. Some games require the nunchuk attachment, while others do not; if you leave the nunchuck attached however you will encounter some severely tangled wires due to how some games are played. Expect a lot of swapping of controllers. Even the activities that require somewhat simple movements can fail at some point due to poor detection of the moves.

As intermediate levels are unlocked it will become quite challenging for the target age group to perform at the skill level that enables unlocking of the final couple of themed areas. So expect some frustration to sink in for some of the less patient gamer kids out there. However, fans of the series will get a kick out of seeing classic characters like Amaz-o make appearances along new characters like the Great Gargantua and Horrifico.

 


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This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk
Kid, 13 years old
June 1, 2009
 
good
i love this game not the best for ds thoughmy ungle plays it all the time we love it yes in deed spooky

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Kid, 12 years old
November 3, 2009
 
Thriller game only lightly scary. Good for 10-year-olds
I love this game. It is OFF THE HOOK! I think it's great for kids 10 and up

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Teen, 14 years old
April 24, 2011
 
A Fun Adventure for 10 Year Olds and Up
The rating is perfect for this game. E10+ is good, due to a creepy and perilous feeling throughout the game.

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This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk
Platforms:Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Mini-games
Developer:Scholastic
Release date:October 30, 2008
Price:$30-40
ESRB rating:E10+ for Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Mild Fantasy Violence

This review was written by Jeff Paramchuk

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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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