DS game reviews: Kids will love helping out Dora, Diego and the Wonder Pets

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This article was published 12/02/2009 (6144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The vast popularity of the animated characters Dora the Explorer and her cousin Diego among today’s children makes video game spinoffs inevitable.

Two recent offerings showcasing these two boundlessly optimistic characters include “Dora Saves the Snow Princess” and “Go, Diego, Go! Great Dinosaur Rescue,” whose Nintendo DS versions both feature similar gameplay mechanics.

The two action games (rated for everyone six-plus) are published by 2K Play and developed by Black Lantern and are also available for many other gaming platforms.

They have a lot in common – just with different themes and characters.

The mini-games in each take advantage of many of the innovations other DS titles have included for a while, including dragging and dropping items to match them up, circling items that are identified for you, snapping pictures or pulling levers in the order you’re told.

“It wasn’t hard,” says seven-year-old Emily Stanisz. “I liked the games but they were really easy.”

It’s all fairly standard DS fare and doesn’t have that much going for it to maintain long-term interest for veteran gamers – even young ones. But just being immersed in the primary coloured world of these characters is entertainment enough for many in the target group.

There’s some mild learning involved here and overall both games are a good pick for the younger gamer who is a fan of the animated characters.

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The more advanced younger gamer might appreciate “Spectrobes: Beyond the Portal” (DS, rated everyone 10-plus), published by Disney Interactive Studios and developed by Jupiter Multimedia. It’s a sequel to 2007’s “Spectrobes.”

“Beyond the Portal” is an action role-playing game where gamers take on the role of Rallen, an eager young Nanairo Planetary Patrol officer who possesses the ability to control monsters called “spectrobes.”

“It’s a lot like the Pokemon games,” says nine-year-old Matthew Stanisz. “It’s pretty much the same.”

The skill that Rallen has makes him central to preventing the invasion of the alien Krawl. At stake is nothing less than the entire universe. Gamers will love scraping the DS touchpad to uncover fossils which they then feed and evolve into powerful fighting spectrobes.

This forms the basis of the game play – uncovering, developing and ultimately battling with your newfound forces.

“Beyond the Portal” will appeal mainly to younger gamers around the entry age who are into “Pokemon”-like games.

If your child loves games that feature battling creatures, this game will have some appeal, maybe even for quite a while.

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Children who adore Linny the guinea pig, turtle Tuck, and Ming-Ming the duckling – a.k.a. the “Wonder Pets” of television fame will snap up “Wonder Pets! Save the Animals” (DS, rated early childhood or three and over).

Gamers embark on a number of simple reflexive games with their favourite characters and earn clothing to accessorize them.

“I really liked dressing them up,” says Sarah Stanisz. “It was my favourite part.”

The simple mini-games revolve around adventures such as rescuing a Bengal tiger who has a thorn stuck in her paw or freeing a panda stuck in a tree.

Just don’t expect to get too much out of “Save the Animals,” published by 2K Games and developed by Black Lantern, as the final credits could be rolling in under an hour, even for casual young gamers.

The game also features some quality images of forest animals and scenes that are quite beautiful.