Monster House
Ages: Everyone 10+

Three kids armed with water guns take on Monster House. The house is quiet because the bottle of cough syrup that Chowder got from his dad, broke and put it to sleep -- but not for long. Soon parts of the house transform into crabs, spiders, pathways are blocked -- the house is out to get them. All three characters play the game together, a button press changes the character armed with his/her unique water gun. They morph into three when getting messages and instructions from DJ. Skull is still available through a walkie-talkie for tips.

The house is like a three dimensional maze with each floor and room unique. A map is drawn as you venture into a new spaces, but finding blueprints will get you a floor plan. Bathrooms are still safe and there are candy and soda for replenishing health. There are upgrades, which when found take immediate effect -- mostly to give the guns more power, faster action or increased range.

The game has been compared with Legend of Zelda, it does follow the story from the Monster House movie, and there is a lot of depth in it for a GBA game. But, with all that going for it, I found the game hard to play. In the console version -- there is plenty of room to use the water guns, basically a long range weapon, but the spaces in the GBA version are so constricted that turning and shooting is difficult and so the monsters win too often. Also, in the console games, you can kick when it comes to a melee encounter. Not possible in the GBA. And instead of kicking jars and boxes, you have to pick up and throw objects to get what is in them, which isn't as satisfying. Finally, between screen size and top down view -- the house just isn't scary.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/06