Disney Alice in Wonderland

$40, Wii, Nintendo DS, Windows

Teaches: logic, strategy

CTR Rating: 78%

CTR Review

We were mildly disappointed by the Wii version of Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Beautifully animated (the Wii version) but poorly leveled, the game serves up a nice interactive extension of Tim Burton's film, and while we liked the drop in, drop out option for a second player, our testers found the game frustrating. As in many scavenger hunt types of games, you explore, earning points and health by smashing statues, park benches, and hedges as you try to find your way to the next level. You can also become one of five Alice in Wonderland characters; each with different attributes. Based on our experience with the first two levels, this seems to be a deep game, so it is good that there's an automatic save option (just one, though). There's always a clear challenge, like "find Alice" but it is easy to find yourself in a bottleneck, which can lead to frustration. Note that the DS version has a very different design than the Wii version. It requires reading, and uses a different animation style; not like the movie. Like the Wii version, it can also become frustrating. Our ten year old tester gave up. The DS version contains "D-Gamer" embedded items. For example, you might find an item and get the message "congratulations, you've unlocked a D-Gamer item." The ratings apply only to the Wii version. If you're up to the challenge, this might be a good game to borrow for the weekend; otherwise pass.