Trollz Hair Affair
Score: 75% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Powerhead Games Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: Trollz Hair Affair! is a light fantasy romp through a cartoon world based on the Trollz cartoon (which is based on the hair stylin', belly gem rubbin' Troll dolls we all know and love). While Trollz Hair Affair! is an entertaining jaunt built around five familiar mini-games, the young girlish themes are likely only suited for those of the female persuasion or secret male fans of the show. Trollz Hair Affair! features images and music straight from the cartoon. For the most part, all of the 2D images in both cutscenes and gameplay are very attractive. There are a few instances when a 3D model or two are used, and these look rather bad, but it is doubtful any fans of the show will care. One option some fans may enjoy is the ability to customize the outfits of each Troll, allowing you to alter them to fit your preference or style. The theme song of the cartoon makes its way onto the game, and each stage features appropriately sounding pop music that fits the game style very well. A few fans may be disappointed to find that there is no voice acting in the game, but that is a relatively minor flaw.
Gameplay: The story of Trollz Hair Affair! starts off as a fairly typical school day for the five girls. Eventually things get a little more complicated and culminate in a rescue operation to save their boys from military school. The game is set up as a collection of five mini-games you will play at increasing difficulty levels. Amethyst features a simple side scrolling shooter. Ruby has a Dance Dance Revolution style musical game. Sapphire has a matching game. Topaz has a hair grooming game, and Onyx features a bead matching game similar to Bust-A-Move.
Difficulty: As this is a game targeted for younger audiences, the game’s difficulty is appropriately mellow. While the mini-games do get progressively more challenging as you go forward in the story, it should never pose anything too hard. Just about anyone should be able to clear this game with relative ease.
Game Mechanics: Each mini-game features Best Friends For Life (BFFL) powerups to help you out. Every game has five powerups which have a color corresponding to the appropriate Trollz friend. These powerups do things like heal you, slow down time, or adds shields. The powerups are unique to every game. Outside of Story mode, you can also play any mini-game as much as you want in the Boom Boom Room. This mode let’s you choose a game and has a high score list to keep track of your best attempts. The game features many unlockables and you can also collect Trollars. These are codes you can use on the www.trollz.com website to earn bonuses. When you look past the girlish exterior, Trollz Hair Affair! features a cute little assortment of mini-games that are great time wasters. If cartoon games featuring tweenish troll girls aren't really your style though, you won’t miss much.
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche
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