Care Bears: Belly Match (iOS, Android)

CARE_BOXWhen I was a kid in the 80’s, Care Bears were pretty popular for a little while. They even had a couple of animated movies! (And the first one was surprisingly dark if I remember correctly.)  Well, apparently the Care Bears are still around, because now you can play a free Match-3 puzzler featuring the Bears who don’t wear their emotions on their sleeves, but on their bellies instead!  One day, Grumpy Bear was in such a bad mood that he accidentally caused a storm to split up Care-A-Lot!  Now you must help Grumpy piece the land back together somehow by matching the different symbols on the Care Bears’ bellies, similar to other games like Bejeweled or Candy Crush.  Care Bears: Belly Match is available to download on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.

Just slide the symbols around on the touch screen to match up three or more of the same symbol and they’ll disappear. Match four or more for bonus points.  When you match a quota of certain symbols, you’ll pass the level, but plan carefully because you only have a limited number of moves.  If you run out of moves it’s Game Over, and you’ll lose a try.  If you lose all your tries you’ll have to wait for a while for them to replenish, similar to other free-to-play titles.  You can earn power-ups to give you an edge, or buy more via the in-game store (where you can buy extra tries and currency, too).  Another thing you’ll get by winning are cakes, which you can use to feed the boss characters to make them easier.  And if you can beat a level with extra moves, you can enter a bonus Match-A-Lot stage where you try to match up as many symbols on the screen as possible and you don’t have a limit on moves either!

The game has a lot of neat little details. I liked how when you win, the Care Bears that you matched their belly symbols would come out and do a little dance, and each one does a different jig.  I especially liked how the little green four leaf clover bear (I’m assuming his name is Lucky), does a little Irish Riverdance.  Really the thing that annoyed me the most about this game wasn’t all the things you have to deal with when playing a free-to-play game.  What annoyed me the most was that the game froze up on me quite often.  It wouldn’t let me slide symbols around the screen, but I could quit the level and lose a try, which got irritating since it wasn’t my fault.  The game doesn’t offer anything new or different than other games of this ilk, but if you like the Care Bears, you may want to give it a try anyway.

CARE_SCREEN

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here. Just all fluffy clouds and rainbows.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, and parental supervision is recommended for in-game purchases.

Discussion Area - Leave a Comment




Tired of typing this out each time? Register as a subscriber!