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> Results: Monster House
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The ESRB says...
Comic Mischief: Some silliness in cutscenes. Fantasy Violence: Squirting flying household objects with a water gun. That the popular Monster House animated movie got a tie-in videogame isn't surprising, nor is the fact that the Game Boy version was not very good. What is surprising is that the DS version plays like an updated SmashTV and answers the call in my Shadowgrounds review for a family friendly top-down shooter! The touch screen is used to great advantage. This gives you solid control by moving with the D-pad while directing your squirt-gun with the stylus. Gameplay consists almost entirely of moving from room to room, having the doors lock and shooting enemies that spew forth from openings in waves. The action is all run and gun, blasting away with your squirt gun while keeping your distance by moving with the D-pad. During lulls in the action you use the stylus to pump your water gun back up. If one of the characters loses all health, you use another while they recover. Only if all three fall do you have to reload from the last room. Every dozen or so rooms you face off against a boss monster. The single-minded combat gets repetitive after a while so it's best played in small chunks. Fortunately the save system is excellent with your progress tracked automatically after each room. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer, but this remains a very entertaining game that makes solid use of its license. It's even entertaining for gamers with no interest in the movie.  
My kids loved Monster House for Nintendo DS! It plays like an updated classic wrapped around new and familiar faces. The game features characters they love from the movie, but it is the frenetic gameplay that is most engaging. The game features gunsﾗbut they are water guns, right down to the water pumpﾗand the enemies are books, chairs, plates and other household items.
While there is good-natured teasing between the kids, the general theme is working together and sticking by your friends. The quick scenes between rooms forward the plot from the film that reinforces that theme. So while you are marching from room to room blasting everything that moves, you build empathy with all of the characters whether of not you've seen the movie. From a content perspective, this is fine for anyone who can read light amounts of text. But because of the high intensity combat and difficulty, slightly older kids will have a more rewarding experience. It all depends on your child. My 8-year old was fine, but got really jumpy during some of the more intense fighting sequences. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Monster House |
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