
The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
By Jinny Gudmundsen,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Kids will find this fun -- not frightening.
Add your rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this game.
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
Community Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
Fred
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?
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
- Platform: Game Boy Advance
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Release date: October 28, 2005
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating: E
- Last updated: August 31, 2016
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 suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Play
Our Editors Recommend
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