Girls 3 and up can help
Kelly and her friends get ready for a magical parade.
When it comes to toys for
the younger crowd out there, especially girls, one name that stands out more
than others (and has for generations) is of course, Barbie. Barbie has enjoyed a
life of consistent top selling merchandise and collector’s items, and as of
recent years … PC and console games as well. Barbie’s little sister Kelly now
has a couple of titles out as well, Pet Parade being the most recent.
Kelly Club : Pet Parade has
the younger gamer going to Kelly’s clubhouse, where she and three of her friends
are getting their stuffed animals ready for a magical, make believe parade. Each
one has their own animal … a horse, a polar bear, an elephant, and of course …
Kelly’s dog Butterscotch. It’s your job to dress them up, decorate their float,
and teach their pet tricks to show off in front of the crowd.
At the start of the game,
each of the four friends is playing with their stuffed toy, and you decide
whether or not to work with the friend first, or the animal that they have. Each
one needs to be done to have a complete parade, and it dosen’t have to be in a
particular order, so it’s up to you on who you want to work with first. The
friends will require you to pick out outfits and decorate the background of
their float, and it’s your job to select the animals and teach them to do tricks
… then get them cleaned up and ready for display.
For the most part, this game will keep the attention of
the younger kids for a decent amount of time, like the 3 – 5 range. There are
enough coats, dresses, hats, shoes, and knick knacks to keep them busy for a
while, and it can be entertaining to shampoo, brush, and clean up each pet after
the various games of beach ball bounce, baton catching, fish grabbing, and hoop
jumping. As you go along, you can also print out the pictures of the characters
and floats either in color to hang up, or in black and white to color later.
That’s all fine and good, but the same amount of things
to do may prove to be disinteresting to the older gamer after a couple of times
through. Each mini game (four of them) is relatively easy, even for a four year
old, and there is no difficulty setting to make it harder as you progress. In
addition, there’s only so much you can do with the various outfits, and while
the 3 – 5 year old will have a blast mixing and matching clothes and
accessories, the older gamer will probably find it to be somewhat dull after X
amount of combinations are looked over.
The parade itself is each float passing by with the theme
song going in the background, and your young one even gets to pick out the
fireworks and confetti which go off as it passes by. Again, an entertaining
spectacle for a youngster the first couple of times through, but older kids will
probably not take notice after the first time or two.
Graphically, the game is a bright, colorful romp through
the world of Kelly and her friends’ imaginations, and the music and sounds
playing in the background … while kind of generic … don’t annoy or get
overbearing, even on a 5.1 surround system.
So … Barbie fans. If you have a youngster out there,
around the 3 – 5 year range, this may not be a bad purchase for you … and it
will provide some decent family entertainment for a little while. If you’ve got
an older kid looking for a Barbie title on the PC, I would recommend sticking
with something in the actual Barbie range for them rather than Kelly Club.
Gameplay: 7.8
The game was made
very simple so that kids of a younger age could play it and get into it easier.
The same simplicity in the controls and the game itself may get boring to the
gamer over 5 or 6 years old.
Graphics: 8.0
Bright and
colorful, and each character is well animated and entertaining to watch. The
game makes some good prints for the little one’s room or for them to color later
as well.
Sound: 7.1
Somewhat generic
and repetitive music, but nothing which gets too annoying or aggravating for the
kids. The voice acting is simple, but entertaining as well.
Difficulty: Easy
Easy for any
child over 3 or so to get into and have fun with. Again, it may be too easy for
the older gamer.
Concept: 7.9
The idea behind
letting kids dress up their favorite Kelly character and use their imaginations
is always a good thing. A few more mini games or activities would have made it a
little more fun.
Overall: 7.2
Not a bad or
poorly done title, it just won’t be for everyone. Watching my three year olds'
face light up as she played and sang along was really a joy for me. So if you’ve
got a little Barbie fan around the house, this may be a fun title to spend time
with during those family times.
