I remember the old Goosebumps Escape
to Horrorland, which was an adventure game based on the popular series of books
by R.L.Stein. It wasn’t the best adventure ever, but was still a fun adventure
for kids and most kids who played it like it. The next Goosebumps installment
was very forgettable, so forget it. Now we have Goosebumps Horrorland for the
Wii, which interestingly, is not an adventure game or even a platform game, but
instead is a collection of arcade games based on popular carnival and gameshow
type games. Sadly, the concept is the only interesting thing happening with this
game, as the actual game is lacking anything remotely interesting for anyone of
any age.
The story begins with you and another kid receiving mysterious tickets to a
local carnival, Horrorland. We know these are mysterious tickets because they
arrive unexpectedly, and one ticket (yours) manages to reform magically in the
air after begin torn into pieces, and float into your hands. Your friend comes
over with a similar ticket, and so it’s off to Horrorland to see what all the
fuss is about. A green monster greets you and lets you in, after first tearing
your ticket into shreds and scattering it around the park.
At first, there are only a few attractions open. The basic premise is to play
the games, collect “frights” from playing, and also collect tokens from around
the park. These tokens are used to play the games. The frights are used to open
up locked carnival games and rides. In the beginning of the game, the player
will have 20 tokens to use.
The games are grouped into areas around the park. The first area that is open is
Carnival of Screams. Some of the first games that can be played are Monster
Mash, a shooting gallery game; Horrorland Derby, a cross between a toy horse
racing track and a ball toss game; and Bumper Carnage, a bumper car game. These
games are just as boring as they sound. Later, it’s off to play Dead Ringer, a
“test your strength” game; Wheel of Misfortune, a take on one of the games from
“I survived a Japanese Game Show”; and Calamity Canyon, a racing game. Of these,
only Wheel of Misfortune is even remotely any fun. Players will run their
character at top speed toward a spinning wheel which has sections marked around
it with amounts of money. They will need to jump their character and stick like
Velcro onto the desired section. This is kind of fun because players have to
pump their arms madly as when you really run in order to get up enough speed.
The other games in the next areas will become unlocked as the play advances.
They are pretty similar in scope, and include types such as mini-golf, water
rides, aim-and-shoot games, balancing games, running games, and throwing games.
Many of these games are very like others in this collection, so despite the
large number of games (30), there is not much variety in gameplay.
Unfortunately, players will have to play most of these games many times over, in
order to earn enough frights to open up all the areas and be able to actually
leave the park.
And that’s about it, folks. While the game states that it is an adventure, it is
not in the real sense of the word. The only feature that has any connection to
an adventure game is the need to collect the ticket pieces that the monster at
the park entrance scattered around, when he tore the entrance ticket into
pieces. But all this requires is for players to wander around with a little girl
from the game, who will help players find the tickets. There is no thinking
involved to do this.
Goosebumps Horrorland is a collection of uninspired arcade games that will fail
to amuse even the most unexacting player. Most of the games are not any fun to
play, either due to bad controls, too-simplistic gameplay, or a combination of
both. They can all be replayed in the arcade section, but who would want to?
No matter how much the kids beg for the game because of the Goosebumps name, be
afraid to buy it. Be very afraid.
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Review Scoring Details for Goosebumps Horrorland |
Gameplay: 5.0
The gameplay is nothing above average, and most of the carnival games are
completely boring after the first few times playing them.
Graphics: 7.0
The graphics are about the only thing this game has going on, with sufficiently
creepy themes.
Sound: 6.0
The music is adequate, but not annoying.
Difficulty: Easy
The overall level of difficulty is easy. The instructions are easy to
understand, and the games are easy to play.
Concept: 5.0
Terrible concept, bad execution.
Multiplayer: 5.0
The games that feature multi-player options are as boring playing with friends
as when playing solo.
Overall: 5.0
This game is not any fun at all to play. The visual theme of the parks is about
the only positive feature, which is a good reflection of the essence of the
books. But, graphics do not a game make. Parents should avoid this game.
