Yay! Mermaids! But can a game intended for preschoolers entertain me, a grown adult, a task for which it was never intended??
This is essentially my introduction to the world of Dora. This is a US show for young children with educational elements. Dora herself is bilingual and I think maybe teaching kids some Spanish is one of the educational elements; I did learn a word or two from this! This particular game is based on an episode/movie where the message is loud and clear: pollution is bad and don’t litter!
I must say it’s amusing to play through a licensed “shovelware” type game and hear the character shouting “GARBAGE!” constantly, especially in the DS version. But really the game is decent enough for its intended age range. On DS it’s incredibly simplistic and short, consisting of touchscreen and microphone-based minigames with interstitial scenes made up of crunched screenshots from the movie. It assumes you’ve seen it as there’s no voiceover in these parts to help you through the plot.
The PS2 version is better about being a complete experience with voiced cutscenes and all, although its modelled 3D characters are a bit creepier than the DS’s 2D artwork, especially Dora herself. Still, it has more to do; the minigames are worse and clunkier but between them are very basic 3D “platformer” sections where you collect gems to power up the mermaids’ magic crown. It’s all very smooth and chill, with no risk of setback. There’s even a mode where a parent can use the second controller to guide and encourage the primary player, which would probably be nice for a shared experience with a young tot. It’s constantly tutorialising at you though; surely even a toddler doesn’t need to be told every single time that they need to move the analogue stick and press the action button; it’s the same control all the way through the game!
My main problem with the game is Dora’s transformation into a mermaid comes
too late! There’s only one pair of levels out of the four pairs total
where she’s under the sea, although in the third set you do get to ride a
dolphin. The underwater sections are identical to previous parts, just
with a different aesthetic and the unfortunate absence of Dora’s monkey
companion Boots. Oh well.
It actually made for a relaxing hour, cruising through this. The characters are cute, and they replicate the show dynamic where you’re encouraged to talk back (only the DS is able to make this an actual mechanic, of course). In a way a video game is the ultimate fulfilment of that interactive aspect of the show, so it’s a good fit. I don’t really recommend it at all, I’ve just been playing mermaid games on my Twitch streams (every Wednesday 1pm AEST at twitch.tv/miloscatter plug plug, archived at youtube.com/channel/UCAyVI8sXU_NNZopJCuwRy9A plug plug) so I checked this out from curiosity. Also it’s nice to see a video game with a protagonist who’s a woman of colour, that’s rare and worth celebrating!
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