Polly Pocket: Super Splash Island
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Destination Software Inc. Developer: Destination Software Inc. Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Classic/Retro/ Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: Unless your child is a young girl between the ages of 3 and 9 who happens to be a fan of Polly Pocket, there’s really nothing about Polly Pocket: Super Splash Island they’d find appealing. If your young ones are fans, then read on. Super Splash Island features colorful and vibrant visuals that will keep younger gamers entranced, but isn’t too complicated and won’t scare them away. The game doesn’t make full use of the Game Boy Advance’s graphical prowess, but given the game's target market, the simple 2D sprites and colorful environments are perfect. While the game features some light reading, the text is all large, colorful, and easy to read. The game also sports simple sound effects and bouncy music that will help to keep the girls entertained.
Gameplay: Rather than being one game, Super Splash Island is actually a collection of smaller mini-games, simple little game levels that play like updated versions of classic arcade games like Frogger. If there is a particular game they find too frustrating or simply don’t like, they won’t have to play it. Though, they will have to play every game at least once to unlock the games “ultimate mini-game”, the water slide. In fact, the premise of the game is about Polly and her friends spending the day at a water park, so all of the mini-games feature water park concepts like bumper boats and log hopping.
Difficulty: Each mini-game offers three levels of difficulty: easy, medium, and hard. The idea of the game is to collect tickets by repeatedly succeeding at the various park attractions. There’s never a way to “lose” the game. You always come out with more tickets than you had going in. Playing better simply means you get more tickets.
Game Mechanics: While most games today feature a way to actually save your progress to the game cartridge, Super Splash Island features a password system. Players can write down their current password and resume the game where they left off next time they play. While I generally universally abhor games using password systems nowadays, I can see why they might be a good thing for younger players. The concept of saving a game in a spot might be confusing and they could accidentally erase or save over save data without meaning too, so I’m going to let it slide this time. The game also features a multiplayer mode, and consists of nothing more than two people handing off the Game Boy Advance to each other during their turn and comparing scores at the end. A game like this really only has a very narrow audience, and let’s be honest, I’m not in it. It’s a budget title though, so even if they don’t like it, the game won’t set you back too much cash. But finding something to keep them occupied on those long car trips is worth the risk, isn’t it?
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche
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