Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc – GBA – Review

Lizzie
McGuire, the perpetual teen, is back again on the GBA in her third game. Ever
fickle, she’s changed developers again, and this time around it’s Climax
(designers of the really good MotoGP3 and the really bad Herbie
Fully Loaded) who is the team in charge. Climax has a varied success in
games, ranging from great games to stinkers. Lizzie McGuire 3, we’re happy to
report, is a pretty decent game.

The focus of
the game is still arcade-style games, but the presentation and format is
totally different. Instead of unlocking mini-games in a linear manner, the
player will play a series of randomized “micro-games,” which are identical in
style and gameplay to the WarioWare GBA games, except that they’re
mostly pink. Just as in WarioWare, players will be presented with
random games which have no explanation, but have to be beaten to gain points.
Once a certain number of points is gained, the player will play a Dance-Off,
which simply requires mashing the correct direction on the directional button
of the GBA as Lizzie dances.

These games
are fun and cute, for the most part, although a few I never did figure out.
Some of the better ones involve moving Lizzie around to dodge items, or
require players to hit the button at the exact moment an item is in position,
like lighting candles on a cake, and applying makeup on Lizzie. The games are
a lot like WarioWare (even the music in the first level is very
similar); in fact, this could almost be the same game, except that there
doesn’t appear to be as many micro-games, and players don’t use the entire GBA
as the control mechanism. One different item is the inclusion of “free pass”
cards, which can be purchased with earned tokens and will grant free games.

There are
two main modes of play, the Trial and Competition modes. In Trial mode,
players can play the games they’ve unlocked in Competition mode, one after
another randomly, until they run out of chances. High scores are saved.
Competition mode requires players to win 10 games in each stage, of which
there are 10. At the end of each state, a dance competition is played.
Progress in Competition mode is saved in one of three save slots, but only
after a stage is completed.

Everything
is colored through rose-colored glasses, but the overall effect is pleasing.
It’s all very “Lizzie McGuire-ish.” The music is great, much better than what
is usually encountered on the GBA. Sound effects are present, but at a
minimum.

This is a
good game, with a decent variety of micro-games. Most of the games are
well-designed, and fun to play. However, this game has been done before and
done better, and it’s called WarioWare. It’s not that this game isn’t
good, it is, it’s just that WarioWare has set the standard, and
Lizzie doesn’t quite match up in terms of the number of micro-games, the
variety and the unique aspect of many of the games in WarioWare.

Review Scoring Details for Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc

Gameplay: 7.5
A fun collection
of micro-games, which are varied and interesting. The presentation is good,
and the games are fun to play for the most part.

Graphics: 7.0
The graphics are
typical of the TV show, and are very “girlish” in tone.

Sound: 8.0
Great tunes!

Difficulty: Medium
The games range
in difficulty from easy to a medium difficulty. The difficulty lies in
figuring out what exactly to do, as the micro-games don’t have any
instructions, but rely on trial-and-error.

Concept: 7.0
This game is almost exactly like WarioWare, but is presented flawlessly.

Overall: 7.8
A good game for
kids, and one which offers some good replayability, with the Trial mode of
unlocked games. More micro-games would have been better, along with maybe a
dress-up store for players to use their tokens in, instead of free pass cards.
Girls and other fans of Lizzie will enjoy this game, but other kids may get
more out of WarioWare.