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Holiday Gift Guide-Hardy Boys for Nintendo DS

November 24, 2009 By

HardyBoysHardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks (DS)
Available: Now
Rated E for Everyone
MSRP: $19

The longest running book series of all-time makes its debut on the popular Nintendo DS™ with The Hardy Boys Treasure on the Tracks. In the game, Frank and Joe Hardy follow the mysterious trail of the Romanov family treasure as they venture across the rich European landscape with stops in Vienna, Paris, Prague and St. Petersburg. While on board the Royal Express, players explore and search train cars for clues, interview passengers and solve interactive puzzles to discover what has happened to the lost treasure and unlock the century old secret that surrounds the Romanov family.

This is a good gift choice for older kids, say 13 and up. The puzzles can get a bit repetitive, but overall it’s an enjoyable game. I recommend looking up a walkthrough if you get stuck, just google “hardy boys treasure on the tracks walkthrough”. With games like this, if you miss even one clue, it can throw off the whole game. Consulting a walkthrough from time to time helps the player make sure they don’t miss something important.  Small enough to tuck into a stocking or give it as a gift along with a Nintendo DS!

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Guitar Hero Rocks the Nintendo DS

July 9, 2009 By

Thanks to Mom Central, we recently reviewed Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits for the Nintendo DS. My 10 year old son Nathan has been the most enthusiastic tester, racking up game points and showing it to his friends.

GHOTModernHitsBundleContents If you are familiar with Guitar Hero, you know it uses a guitar-shaped controller with buttons to push instead of strings, right? Well, the Guitar Hero game for the DS uses a hand grip/fret board that plugs into the game slot, and a pick-shaped stylus for “strumming”. It’s really clever!

The 28 songs on the game are radio-edits of music by bands I’ve heard of (Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz, The Offspring, Franz Ferdinand, Foo Fighters, Tenacious D), and some that I was not at all familiar with (The Bravery, The Duke Spirit, Atreyu, 12 Stones) because I am old and out of touch :P    There are two other Guitar Hero games for the DS, and the songs can be streamed wirelessly between the games.

Single players can challenge themselves with Quickplay mode that lets you jump right to any song, or Career mode with “Fan Requests”, challenges, and unlocking new venues and songs as the game proceeds.

Two or more players can synch up their games and play cooperatively or in a face-off, and during Guitar Duels, challenges come up that must be dealt with before the game can continue-like having to drag the ends of a broken “string” together, or having to sign an autograph for a fan. I didn’t get very far in the game to get to do that, but for a dedicated player like my son, it just amps up the challenge level.

BUY IT:  You can get Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits at Best Buy for $49.99. It comes with the Guitar Grip controller and the pick stylus, plus stickers for customizing the DS. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing it as much as your kids do!

Thank you Nintendo and Mom Central for this fun review opportunity!

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Blue Dragon Plus for Nintendo DS

April 9, 2009 By

blue-dragon-plus

Blue Dragon Plus is the sequel to the Xbox 360 Blue Dragon title, featuring the main character Shu and his army of humans and robots. The game play involves building this army and using the touch screen to move them around. You tell your army where to go and who to fight, and control their healing, with the ultimate goal of defeating a three headed blue dragon enemy.

Description:

The excitement of the hit Cartoon Network series comes to life with Blue Dragon Plus. Leap into battle, commanding up to 16 humans and Mecha Robos to fight against a horde of enemies, and revel in the edge-of-your-seat action of the game’s explosive real-time battles and shadow fights. Complete a thrilling single-player campaign that spans more than 30 hours of gameplay and incorporates engaging RPG elements like item collection and character progression. High-quality dual-screen FMVs showcase more than an hour of gripping story events, immersing you fully in the Blue Dragon world.

bdp6

Review:

I gave the game to my 10 year old son to play. He was enthusiastic about it at first, but got frustrated with the game very quickly.  Either he skipped over the tutorials at the beginning or there weren’t enough of them, because he couldn’t figure out what to do and where to go. There’s a companion Strategy guide available separately, but we didn’t get that and couldn’t find any online walkthroughs either.  He finally gave up because he couldn’t progress through the game.  My guess is that this game is for older players and especially ones who played the original Xbox 360 game and know basically what to do. More information about the game is available through this widget.

Buy It:
 Blue Dragon Plus for Nintendo DS is available on Amazon.com for $27.99.

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