Parents' Guide to The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree

Game Game Boy Advance 2005
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Common Sense Media Review

Jinny Gudmundsen By Jinny Gudmundsen , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 6+

Kids will find this fun -- not frightening.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 6+?

Any Positive Content?

  • The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree Game: Screenshot #1
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  • The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree Game: Screenshot #3

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

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What's It About?

Based on Stan and Jan Berenstain's book of the same title, THE BERENSTAIN BEARS AND THE SPOOKY OLD TREE is set in an enchanted forest filled with spiders, ghosts, bewitched furniture, bats and other spooky stuff. The Berenstain Bears seek shelter in this forest during a thunderstorm and end up lost inside a spooky old oak tree. With the help of a friendly fairy, they find their way home. In the process, they locate a magic seed that can bring the old forest back to life.

Appropriate for children ages 5 to 10, The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree is a platform adventure game played on seven levels. Kids unlock each level by completing the previous one and earning a password. A level consists of four games during which the player assumes the persona of Brother Bear, Sister Bear or Cousin Fred. In each level, there is at least one cooperative game where the player can rotate among all three characters.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say : Not yet rated

This Berenstain Bears video game is spooky without being too scary for the targeted age. Gameplay is challenging, but never so difficult as to be frustrating. And while some players might get annoyed to get to the fourth game on a level and "die" (in this game, the character simply loses its courage and sits down and cries), kid testers didn't seem to mind having to replay the previous three games because the games have multiple paths to success.

As an added bonus, the game comes packaged with The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat book.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how each person has strengths -- just like the characters in this video game.

  • They also might want to talk about some of the spooky stuff in the oak tree. What's fun about spiders, ghosts and bats? Why do kids often dress up as scary creatures for Halloween?

Game Details

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