Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, PlayStation 2, Windows)
common sense media says
Movie game features mild violence and plenty of play modes.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this game is based on the movie of the same name and is clearly targeted at children who watch the film or who are fans of the Ice Age franchise. Unfortunately there is a disconnect between the movie's target age of 6 and the ESRB's rating that this game is appropriate for ages 10+. Parents trying to decide whether this game is good for their young kids should know that the game has mild cartoon violence about on par with what occurs inside a Mario platformer. Our animal avatars defend themselves from the cute but moderately aggressive wildlife they encounter by throwing snowballs and mudballs, tossing fruit, and hitting them with spin attacks and punches. Defeated enemies simply squeak, teeter, fall down, and disappear in a puff of smoke or a burst of colorful leaves.
Positive role models:
Sid the Sloth thinks he’s a “mamma” and most of his actions revolve around trying to do what’s best for the eggs he finds and, later, the dinosaurs they become.
Ease of play:
Basic platforming and racing controls with in-game tutorials. Beginners should have little problem getting the hang of things.
Violence:
Players have to defend themselves against mildly aggressive wildlife in some levels. They do this by throwing snowballs and mudballs, tossing and shooting fruit, and whacking them with their hands (Sid spins around with his arms extended and can throw punches). The violence feels relatively mild; defeated enemies make little squeaking sounds and typically disappear in a puff of smoke or a burst of colorful leaves.
More on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
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Gamerbro
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Where do I start..
The graphics are terrible.You would be hard pressed to find a texture that's not blurry beyond recognition. The best thing you could say about the gameplay is that it works. Borrowing gameplay ides from platformers that are actually good, like Crash Bandicoot, It overuses them from beginning to end. Any fun you'll be having at the beginning will simply feel redundant by the end. If this game got four stars for being kid freindly, more power to it. If it got four stars for being a good game...Just no.
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DPNorman
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
A decent game but a dissapointment overall.
This game was based off of the Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs movie. I played the wii game based on the second movie in the series, and was very impressed. When I played THIS game (wii version), I was a bit disappointed. The game involves your characters trying to rescue your friend Sid from an enemy dinosaur from an underground world, almost like a Journey to the Center of the Earth sorta thing. For a few levels at the start you play as Sid, then you switch to the weasel named Buck, who looks underground for the dinosaur and trying to get Sid. The visuals are decent and look about par for the wii. The controls work fine. The only problem I had was the motion controls at times, and I'll get into that a bit later. You get a regular attack (hitting enemies), several types of projectile attacks, and you can jump on enemies. That's easy enough, and it works for the most part. The whole feel of the game changes after you switch from Sid to Buck and go underground. The graphics look different, the game is darker, and it seems less inviting and fun, and it kinda is. Its just less playful. The camera is horrendous and sometimes made me feel nautious. The platforming in this game is BEYOND AWFUL. They make you do so many jumps that are virtually impossible. Most of the jumps were OK, but when they started having us press A twice to double jump, then to thrust the remote up to grab a rope suspended from mid-air, then jumping off of that, I got REALLY annoyed. The motion controls usually work, but when you only have a split second to do it like you do during a lot of your jumps, they SUCK. And you WILL die a lot in this game due to the controls. Now there is a multiplayer option in this game. Its fun the first time, but then you will never come back to it. In the end this game is OK. Let me tell you right now, dont buy this game. You will regret it, because its simply not worth it. Aside from the camera, controls, and poor multiplayer, the game is also overpriced. But this game may be worth renting for an Ice Age fan-kid.
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AmayzingMayzie
kid, 13 years old
kid, 13 years old
Great, but can get boring..
The movie is really sweet and I recommend watching them all =) The video game is also great but it might only entertain you for like 30 minutes. It is totally appropriate.
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