I grew up with the NES.
That was my first console.
And I have a lot of good memories from it...the classic games, the exciting newness of the
home console, the sore palms from that rigid controller.
I even remember all the educational games...especially the Sesame Street titles.
It was a win-in.
I loved learning, I loved puppets.
Yeah, it is.
And I’ll be honest, my first inclination was to laugh at this game.
It’s, like, an hour long, it’s about this underwater farm or something.
Listen, my office is underwater.
And I gotta tell you...there are no aquatic chickens or mermaid children under the sea.
There’s total darkness, fatal levels of water pressure and horrors unimaginable.
There are mermaids, but...they don’t exactly help with your vocabulary.
But before I could laugh, I thought about Sesame Street.
Sesame Street ABC, to be exact.
I thought about Big Bird’s ferris wheel of spelling and Ernie’s bath tub.
I thought about how...they’re short, there’s almost nothing to them.
And I realized that, if I were introduced to them today, my first inclination...would
be to laugh.
I don’t want to laugh at Sesame Street ABC.
And for some kid, this...whatever it is...is probably their Sesame Street ABC.
Yeah, it’s short and weird and it’s nowhere near as cool as puppets...but it’s not my
place to crap on the Bubble Guppies.
For a five-year-old preschooler, this is a sweet little DS game.
Obviously, I’ve spent a lot of time reminiscing and making comparisons, and that’s because...there’s
really not much to say about the game itself.
This is a very simple educational game for preschoolers, based on the popular Nickelodeon
series.
It’s a collection of more than 20 little problems and minigames, all with an emphasis
on preschool learning—shapes, color, vocabulary, agricultural development.
The game is arranged into a linear story, so there’s a sense of progression.
As you complete minigames, you earn traffic cones that allow you to guide a little bus
to the next location.
The minigames all use the touch screen in some capacity, which is an awesome way to
introduce and acclimate kids to the technology of touch.
No chuckling.
I said there’d be no laughing.
Knock it off.
This is definitely a fun, safe and smart game for little kids, but I do wonder about the
price and format.
I mean, this is a $30 Nintendo DS game that requires a stylus.
You can find awesome educational games on the App Store for literally a fraction of
the price...and without the need for a stylus.
But if your kid is as enthralled by the Bubble Guppies as I was by Oscar The Grouch, well...this
is a game they’ll remember for a long time.