Strawberry Shortcake: The Sweet Dreams Game (PS2)
© 2006 The American Game Factory, Inc.
Looking for a first video game for girls? This one-player side-scroller comes close, although there are some quirks in the design that take away from the experience. In the story, Strawberry Shortcake's friends find themselves unable to dream. Strawberry Shortcake must head to Dreamland and the Dream Factory to create new dreams for her friends. Okay... Children use the left and right arrow keys to steer Strawberry Shortcake through four environments, collecting strawberries, avoiding nasty birds and jumping on floating platforms. The art is fun and very dreamlike, and there are some nice creative touches. There are eight exploration levels, six mini games and four levels of difficulty that increase as a new friend asks for help. Using the right trigger, children can swap between dreams; a process that can be confusing to understand. Also, there is just one direction that the character can move, despite the fact that the path sometimes goes in a downward direction. There is no ability to save until a stage is completed, and because some games are longer than others, this can be frustrating, especially if a child becomes stuck in an area. Our seven-year-old tester found the jumping that is required (for example, to jump onto a moving train) to be a frustration. All this is too bad, because this game is close to being a good choice as a starter program. It still can be, but a caring adult nearby will be required.
$30, PlayStation 2
Teaches: logic, problem solving
CTR Rating: 78%