Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Internet-obsessed teens engage in questionable hijinks.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
iCarly
What's It About?
The iCARLY video game tracks the format of the Nickelodeon show on which it is base. Carly and her friends have their own Web program, on which they air strange videos they find around the Internet. A bitter teenage boy, who Carly once turned down, tries to get revenge by hacking into Carly's computer and creating various technical problems to ruin their show. Eventually Carly and her friends figure out the mean kid's password and rewrite his viruses to attack his own computer. During all of this players will "play" Webisodes of Carly's show by taking on a number of quick, strange minigames that are meant to be video segments. Some include finding baby chicks in the dark with a flashlight, ringing a bell to wake up Carly's brother, and bouncing on trampolines.
Is It Any Good?
What may disappoint some iCarly fans is the way the game doesn't allow the player to affect the story in any way. The plot goes on, the players watch it unfold. Fans may like the story -- and the acting by the real cast members -- but long for some way to be more involved. The fun of this video game comes during "webisodes," the slates of rapid mini-games the player is hit with in a fashion not unsimilar to that of WarioWare (and the games are often just as bizarre and non-sequiter-like as the ones in WarioWare, too). The games are genuinely fun, easy to learn but hard to master, and tend to increase in difficulty as the story progresses. The only problem is that there just aren't enough of them, which leads to a lot of repetition. It's nice that players can "edit" their own webisode, choosing the order of minigames and tinkering with their looks, but it doesn't solve the problem. It's possible to finish the entire game in under two hours.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the good and bad involved in using the Internet. How much time is too much time on the computer? How do you keep your online interactions safe?
Should you limit texting and instant messaging? What kinds of things are okay to say to someone via email and what should be handled in person? What's the best thing to do if an uninvited user interrupts your chats or email conversations?
When does poking fun of someone online turn into cyberbullying?
If you want to watch funny Web videos, how can you avoid ones that are inappropriate or harmful?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo DS , Nintendo DSi , Nintendo Wii
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Activision
- Release date : October 27, 2009
- Genre : Mini-games
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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