Common Sense Media Review
By Erin Bell
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Adorable brain trainer suitable for younger kids only.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
What's It About?
The popular Hamtaro anime TV show has inspired several adorable adventure games for handheld platforms, but in HI! HAMTARO: HAM-HAM CHALLENGE, Hamtaro and his gaggle of hamster friends are featured in a brain-training game designed to help younger kids practice skills like rhythm, shape-recognition, counting and meaning.
From Hamtaro's cage (where you can make him drink water, gnaw on a wooden carrot, and other super-cute activities), players venture out into the Square to interact with various hams including Oxnard, Maxwell, and Cappy in 12 different skill-building mini-games. Examples include using the stylus to touch the hamsters at the right time to make them jump, arranging different-shaped blocks so that they fit the given outline, counting how many objects appear on a blackboard, coloring pictures with the same hues shown in the example, counting money to pay the exact amount requested, and replying to Oxnard's request for food by choosing the item that matches his description.
Is It Any Good?
The game is a winner for both parents and younger kids. For parents, the game offers a control panel to monitor a child's progress and see which areas their child has explored, set limits on gameplay time, and reward good performance by giving virtual gifts that appear in the child's profile.
For kids, the charming Hamtaro theme makes the activities feel like games instead of exercises, and the difficulty level adjusts itself based on performance so the more players achieve, the more challenging the training becomes. That said, the game is skewed to a slightly younger crowd than the Hamtaro adventure games for Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, so older players would fare better with a title like the Brain Age series.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it's like to have a game where your parents can "keep tabs" on what you're doing. How many other games can kids and parents play together? Would the games be as fun without the Hamtaro characters to interact with?
Game Details
- Platform : Nintendo DS
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Natsume
- Release date : September 23, 2008
- Genre : Educational
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 3, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate