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> Results: Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure
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The ESRB Says:
Mild Fantasy Violence: GamerDad made a little girl smack around cartoon monsters with a drill, which would disappear when defeated.. Mild Suggestive Themes: A miner in the game always jokingly asks the main character out on a date. And one of the boss monsters is a bit effimate. Tobacco Reference: Another time, that same miner said he was smoking near some gunpowder and that was a very dangerous thing to do. Parin is a young girl who is sent to live with her grandfather in a sleepy little mining village. Being the only child in the village, she quickly becomes bored with no friends and playmates. But luckily she finds friendly monsters who are invisible to adults, and these monsters have their own village hidden in the mining town. When evil phantoms come to wreak havoc on the monster's town, it's up to Parin to wield a legendary drill and rescue her monster friends. Thus begins Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure for PSP, a whimsical game with themes similar to charming cartoons like Spirited Away or Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Gurumin is a colorful 3-D platform jumping game, with heavy emphasis on hack and slash gameplay. Guide Parin through ruins, forests, caves, and mountains and use her drill to keep those nasty phantoms at bay. Get critical hits by attacking phantoms in time to the beat of the music. The music, by the way, has an excellent, driving catchy beat to it. Collect coins to buy outfits and hats for Parin back in town. Each outfit and hat gives Parin special abilities when equipped. Goggles let her swim underwater without getting hurt. Cat ears help her seek out treasures and other secrets. Speaking of secrets, there are tons of goodies to uncover in Gurumin. Use Parin's drill to break down cracked walls to find treasures and other treats. Graphics and animation are clear and colorful and some of the best you'll see on PSP. Not only is the music fantastic, but the voice acting is on par with an above average Saturday morning cartoon, with talented toon voice actors playing the parts of the Gurumin cast. Play control is responsive and easy to learn as the game shows you clear instructions for each of Parin's drill moves. With multiple difficulty modes for gamers of all skill levels, oodles of secrets to boost replay value, all wrapped up in a charming adventure without any glaring faults makes Gurumin one of the best games on the PSP.  
While the PSP in general is best suited for older gamers, Gurumin is a fantastic game for any age. Violence is only cartoony. Young Parin uses her little drill to clobber phantoms who are mare squishy than scary. When bad guys roll into Parin or send out magic blasts, she'll only fall down and go "owie" while losing a little energy (easily recovered by eating a cookie).
Some of the ESRB descriptors are a little persnickety. "Mild Suggestive Themes" come from a miner in the village who jokingly asks Parin out on a date, and an effimate boss monster. "Tobacco Reference" means that one miner also talks about the dangers of smoking near gunpowder at one point. Basically if parents are OK with their kids watching cartoons like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, they'll be OK with this game, too. While most of the text in the story is done by renowned cartoon voice actors, reading skill is still helpful for navigating through menus and such. Multiple difficulty modes mean that gamers young and old of any skill level can enjoy Gurumin and feel a sense of accomplishment from playing it. By now you should know the drill, Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure is one of the best PSP games for the whole family. 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: Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure |
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