Princess and the Frog   - Review

Princess and the Frog
Rating: E - Everyone

The game's attention to the plot and the use of stills from this splendid movie makes this a satisfying continuation to the movie experience.

The first part involves moving Tiana back and forth across the screen to fetch things and speak to characters. Little interaction is required - collecting supplies for beignets (sort of a donut) is done simply by moving by the supplies, cleaning is done by blowing into the microphone. Story dialog is well laid out with the character that is speaking on one side of the book and the text on the other.

The second part of the game turns into a not-so easy platformer. The tongue jump is nothing more than using the double B for the old extended jump plus swinging. Through it all, Disney has kept the Frenchness and New Orleans ambience intact - even to having a French language support in the game. Background jazz music plays where appropriate and there is simple music note matching activity which doesn't require accuracy (OK for kids playing this game). Included in the game is a cookbook with Creole cooking - beignets included.

Wi-Fi capability will allow kids to play with friends who also have the game, and access to DGamer, an online site for Disney gamers. Extensive instructions for Wi-Fi are included in a separate manual. Too bad information doesn’t trickle down to the game manual or into the game. The most serious is the lack of "Save" instructions. The Pause menu gives you "Exit without saving" implying that if you just exit, the game will be saved. Not so. Nor is the game saved - like the standard RPG game - at the end of a quest. So where is it saved? At the end of a Chapter! How do you know this - a lily pad with a crown appears on the screen. Is it mentioned anywhere? How could they totally ignore the SAVE function. They must not have had to confront a kid who says, "What happened to my game?"


Fun Factor: Excellent
Female Factor: Excellent
Player Friendly: BAD! No saves!

Reviewed by: Editor - Mar/10

  • Princess and the Frog
  • © Disney Studio
  • Platform(s): DS
  • To Order: DS http://www.amazon.com/ $19.99