Disney Interactive has put out the second installment of the Wizards of Waverly Place and is anything but magical.
Developer: Sarbakan
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Release Date: November 16, 2010
ESRB Rating: E
[starreview]
Wizards of Waverly Place: Spellbound puts you in the place of Alex Russo who is designing a dress for the Wizard World’s Fashion Show. She is just putting up the finishing touches of her less-than-hand-touched dress when it suddenly disappears. This prompts to search for her dress without the aid of magic.
Throughout the game, you most play as Alex, but there are a few instances in which you play as either Justin or Max. This is a nice change up and allows for a fuller use of the cast in the show. The characters in this game look good and are instantly recognizable.
You start off with only one spell and gain more as you progress. Some spells move objects around, some speed things up, and another one will turn Alex into a cute little hamster. You use spells by tapping on Alex and selecting one from the wheel that pops out. You then drag the spell icon on the person/item you wish to use it on.
Most of Spellbound is based on linear missions that have Alex sneaking around guards and getting from point A to point B. Now this is fine for someone who is from the age range of 6-12, but these missions get horribly repetitive and with a spell casting mechanic that can be annoying and buggy, it adds more frustration to an already blasé objective mission. When you had to sneak around, you would have to turn yourself into a hamster in order to get away from the guards (because watching hamsters run around is a common enough occurrence to be deemed negligible). The guards have a “field of view” that you must not be in so you can perform your spells safely. These guards must have some incredible field of view because I was across the room once with his back turned to me and he still saw me cast a moving spell. I don’t know how he saw me, but he did and I almost threw my DS in frustration.
The story of this game is pretty typical for a kid’s game. Someone stole something important and it’s your job to do something about it. Alex’s dress is stolen right before this extremely important fashion show and now she only has a few days to find it. Now this premise bothers me. If these wizards were capable of speeding things up, moving stuff around, and turning themselves into small furry creatures; couldn’t they just use magic to bring the dress back? I mean, they make stuff pop out of thin air all the time. You’d figure a dress that someone took wouldn’t be a problem, but I guess there must be rules against that.
All in all, the game is good for kids, and to be honest, very few games aren’t. Disney keeps up with the presentation and kid-friendly aura. Kids will be able to instantly recognize their favorite cast members and enjoy playing as them. I may not have enjoyed it, but my 10 year old sister did and that’s what Disney was aiming for and succeeded in doing so. They never aimed to please a mature audience and this review shouldn’t really be based on that. Mechanics and gameplay issues aside; it was a good game that any fan of the show would enjoy. Now if you don’t mind, this sophisticated and mature 20 year old will get back to a game that is right for his age group: Pokémon Heart Gold.
Thank you Disney Interactive Studios for the review copy.
