Well, I have
to admit that this is one show I’ve not heard of, Unfabulous on Nickelodeon.
After looking it up, it seems like a cool show with good stories. The
Unfabulous GBA game is based on this show, and features all the kids you love
and love to hate from the show. Join Addie while she roams the halls of Rocky
Road Middle School and life in general!
The game
begins with Addie and her friends hanging out at a party thrown by Randy. This
serves as a brief introduction to the game’s format and the controls. After
Addie discovers all the things she can do, she then has to play a short
dancing game, played by matching the moving control button icons, similar to
other dancing mini-games. She then wakes up in her bed to realize it was only
a dream.
The rest of
the game involves Addie running errands and fetching things for her friends
and enemies, while periodically playing mini-games in the process. These
mini-games are linear while playing the storyline, but can be accessed through
the Arcade option in the main start screen right from the beginning of the
game. There are lots of mini-games, but some of them are exactly alike, so
there aren’t quite as many as first would appear. The games are arcade types
like the above-mentioned dancing game, simple sport simulation games, an
Atari-like shooter, a Dr. Mario clone, and obstacle course races.
Some of the
games are fun, like Dr. Mario, the shooter, and volleyball. Volleyball and
basketball are the simulation-type games, with volleyball the better game. Dr.
Mario is always a good game to play, and the arcade shooter is fun, too.
Hangman could have been a good game, but it’s way too limited in its word
bank. After only a couple of plays, the same words begin to appear again.
There are three obstacle races involving being chased by the principal in a
wheelchair while avoiding obstacles, these are all right to play, but not all
that fun. There are way too many “match the moving control button” games, too.
The
characters are odd-looking, with big heads on little bodies. Evidently this
was meant to be a cool way to have the characters look as much like their real
counterparts as possible, but it just looked strange.
The menu
options aren’t as clear as they could be, and saving before quitting might
cause problems for some young players. A password system is used.
This is a
decent collection of mini-games combined with a simple exploration adventure
mode. The mood of the TV show is captured nicely, and there is much emphasis
on music and bands, just as in the show. There are lots of mini-games to play,
and the fact that they are immediately accessible is a big plus. However, many
of them are the same, and there aren’t any logical thinking games to even out
the arcade ones. The plethora of “matching the moving control buttons” doesn’t
help. There are some good ones, though, which are pretty fun to play.
Unfabulous
compares adequately with other similar games currently on the market, but
doesn’t stand out from the crowd in any significant way. Best for young fans
of the show.
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Gameplay: 6.5
There are a lot
of mini-games to play. While some of them are quite fun, many are not. There
also is not enough variety in the types of games presented.
Replayability is good, though, and the games can be played at any time
throughout the main game. The adventure story mode is a decent one, and will
require players to do a lot of fetching and carrying, while exploring the
familiar locations from the TV show.
Graphics: 7.0
The graphics are
average and do the job, but the big heads look a little strange.
Sound: 7.0
The music fits
the middle school-age crowd theme pretty well.
Difficulty: Easy
All the games are
fairly easy, and the main story mode is really easy.
Concept: 6.0
Nothing new.
Overall: 6.8
This is a wholly
average collection of mini-games. While a few are nicely designed and are
entertaining, the majority are too simplistic and unvaried in type to be very
interesting after the first few plays. A better variety of mini-games would
have helped.
