Common Sense Media Review
By Christopher Healy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Good TV adaptation with scary monsters, cartoony violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
The Saturdays are a family of cryptozoologists who travel the world in search of rare and undiscovered species in order to catalog and protect them. In THE SECRET SATURDAYS: BEASTS OF THE 5TH SUN, an evil megalomaniac and his endless hordes of henchmen are out to poach parts from several of these rare \"cryptids,\" and use them for a formula they believe will extinguish the sun. The Saturdays, of course, come to the rescue.
Is It Any Good?
Many games based on TV shows are flat-out lousy, but not so The Secret Saturdays. The art style -- thick-lined and colorful, just like that of the series -- is very attractive, and gameplay is blessedly varied. There's a lot of platform-jumping, but also some problem-solving, some button-mashing battles, some time-based challenges, some hide-and-seek creature-hunting, and more. You'll get a chance to control all the members of the Saturday family, plus many of the cryptid beasts that Zack can control with his magic staff. Each person or creature has different moves and powers, thus adding a lot of variety to the game. All in all, Beasts of the 5th Sun offers a solidly entertaining gameplay experience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about real-life endangered species. Why is it important for real zoologists to find and monitor animal species on the brink?
Parents can also discuss the way the Saturdays -- a family -- work together in the story. What do your children think about a kid battling evil alongside his parents? What about the two creatures -- a yeti-like beast and a giant lizard -- that the Saturdays consider part of the family?
Also, what's the relationship between the game and the television show? Can the game stand alone? Or do its creators want players to watch the show as well?
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo DS , Nintendo DSi , Nintendo Wii , PSP , PlayStation 2
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : D3Publisher of America
- Release date : October 21, 2009
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : June 19, 2019
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