Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is a new computer animated movie where Dorothy comes back to Oz to save her friends from an evil Jester.  And now you can play a 3DS game based on the film’s adventures.  So what kind of game is this?  It’s a match-three puzzle game.  Yup, really.  But for what it is, it’s actually not that bad, even if the license it’s based on is.

In each level, use your stylus to slide tiles to match three or more to earn points and make the tiles disappear (much like Bejeweled or Candy Crush).  Match four or five in a row for more points, and be on the lookout for chain reaction opportunities.  Sometimes, special tiles appear that let you clear out rows or columns or even whole groups.  Just watch out because in some modes, there are tiles that can hinder your play as well.

You’ll encounter four different gameplay modes when solving puzzles in Oz.  In the first, you’ll need to earn a high enough score with a given amount of moves.  Another requires you to earn a certain score in a time limit.  Other modes have you clearing out special tiles or making them reach the bottom of the playfield.

Each of the colored tiles you’ll match represents a different character in the movie, and when you match up tiles of specific characters, they can earn experience points and level up.  Levelled up characters help you earn more points, yellow bricks, and make power-ups appear more frequently when you match their tiles.

At the end of each level you can earn yellow bricks to spend in Glenda’s shop, where you can buy power-ups you can use by pressing the buttons during play.  I recommend stocking up on Extra Move power-ups in the shop, as they can come in handy.  Depending on your score, you can earn up to three Emeralds per level.  Emeralds are used to unlock concept art from the movie in the gallery, and to open up new worlds to play in.

The only problem I had with the game is that they don’t make it clear what kind of mode you’ll be playing in a level until you start.  Plus, the game is actually harder in the beginning than in the end, when your characters aren’t levelled up a lot.  Match-three puzzle experts should still be able to beat this game fairly quickly, but kids and fans of Oz should still enjoy this one anyway.

Kid Factor:

Reading skill is helpful for some of the instructions, but the game is easy enough to figure out just by playing anyway.  Some kids may get frustrated at the initial difficulty, but if they keep trying and levelling up their characters, the game gets easier.  Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children