This is my first review of a children’s game, and I am going to go
about it a little differently than I do for adult games. First off, let me refer
you to my article, Games
for Kids, which tells you a little bit about my son Nick, the boy who actually
played the game. Second, I have very little interest in kids’ games beyond whether
Nick will like them or not, and so I have not played this game myself. I just
handed it over to Nick and say “play this.” I looked over his shoulder
every once in a while so I would have a feel for what the game was about, but
that was the extent of my involvement besides asking Nick questions so I could
write this review. And last but not least, instead of letter grades for each category,
I gave Nick a rating scale for the overall game: Totally Fun, Not Fun at All,
or Somewhere in Between, and then added my Mommy grade at the end.

There
is no suggested age range listed for this game–it is ESRB rated as Kids to Adults,
but in my opinion, it is strictly a kids’ game. I would recommend it for ages
6 to 12, boy or girl, but the child should be able to read unassisted unless a
parent is willing to play the game with him or her. The game itself does not involve
much reading, but the ancillary “educational” parts of the game require
a lot.

Now, on to the review. You play as the Pink Panther, secret agent.
At the beginning, you get your mission from the Inspector, which is to figure
out what is happening to various ambassadors’ children who all happen to be in
attendance at Camp Chilly Wah Wah. You then travel to each foreign country, about
seven or eight in total, to complete tasks related to each ambassador’s child,
foiling the bad guys at every turn.

The gameplay is mouse-driven, point-and-click,
with menu access at the top of the screen for saving games and getting the factual
tidbits. First, you enter a camper’s cabin, look around and somehow get transported
to that child’s country of origin. After you arrive, you talk to inhabitants,
obtain inventory items, and complete a task to move on to the next location within
that country. The gameplay is very linear in that you have to complete one location
to be able to progress to the next, and I believe that was the case even from
country to country. Nick was constantly getting stumped on the tasks, but there
are built-in hints, accessed from the menu, in the form of riddles. Nick was usually
able to figure these out himself but needed help on a couple of occasions. He
quickly learned to resort to the hints and was then able to progress rapidly–he
played through the whole game in one (long) afternoon–about five hours. Unlike
with adults, however, there is a lot of replayability for Nick because he doesn’t
mind repeating the same things over and over and likes to know in advance what
will happen. Also included in the game is a PDA feature that lists facts about
each country, such as what foods the people eat, what kind of clothes they wear,
landmarks, flags, etc. Nick is a smart boy but very lazy and will never learn
anything on purpose, so he skipped this part. I think most children would bypass
it unless they were gluttons for punishment or their parents made them do it.

The
graphics are cartoons with a lot of movement in the scenes. They were actually
quite nicely done–good use of color and no skimping on the animation.

Let
me interrupt myself here to say that I consider the Pink Panther an American cultural
icon, and I was seriously unnerved by the fact that he talks in this game–it
was just wrong. Nick, on the other hand, has no experience with the cartoons of
my youth and so never knew any better. That being said, the voice acting and sound
effects on this game were adequate. No Oscar contenders here, but it was not annoying
to this easily-annoyed-by-Nick’s-games mommy. There was very little music throughout,
and what there was was not the classic tune by, I believe, Henry Mancini that
we parents know and love. Again, Nick did not know any better.

In conclusion,
the Nick rating of this game was “Totally Fun.” He really enjoyed
the game and will probably play it at least a couple more times. Considering I
got it in the bargain bin at KayBee Toys for about $9, I feel like it was money
well spent on my part. The Mommy rating is a B+ because:

1. It
   was not annoying to listen to–A+;
2. The Pink Panther talked, which really bugged
   me–F;
3. Nick needed very little help–B;
4. The game never crashed or had
   any bugs–A+; and
5. This carries the greatest weight–it kept Nick out of my
   hair long-term–A.

Final Grade: B+