The Cheetah Girls
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Buena Vista Developer: Buena Vista Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Rhythm/ Family/ Simulation
Graphics & Sound: Disney is fun again in gaming. The Cheetah Girls game is proof positive that something has gone terribly right in the depths of Walt's game design studios. Buena Vista Games or BVG is to thank for the saccharine adventures of The Cheetah Girls. Fans will enjoy seeing Dorinda, Galleria, Aqua and Chanel depicted on screen in profile and through cool dance animations. The colors are girl-pleasing pastels as far as the eye can see. The music is snappy pop from no particular artist, but it fits nicely into the tween scene depicted in The Cheetah Girls. As far as GBA productions go, this is nice stuff and it is clear from both the sound and vision that The Cheetah Girls team worked hard to build in plenty of stuff for girls to go wild over. There is a lot of text in the game, which might seem like a good way to get a kid to read. The downer is that Cheetah Girls includes a lot of really sloppy talk that would make the smartest kid sound pretty stupid. I understand that this is the reality of how some kids (and adults) talk, but I think that the slang should have been dropped. It comes off stilted and it means that Cheetah Girls will be past its cultural shelf-date by next year. So much for an endearing, time-worn classic...
Gameplay: Ever want to take charge of an all-girl super-group on their way to stardom? If you haven't, you are either a liar or in a coma. Who could resist the chance for fame and fortune? How do celebrities get their start, anyway? The burning questions you have will all be answered by the Cheetah Girls in this game. Take four spunky girls with some desire and good dance moves and you have the premise for a great rhythm game. One part simulation and three parts timed-button presses, this lets you behind the scene with the Cheetah Girls as they learn new dance moves, put their act together and get everything in place to take over the world. As a grown man with a boy child, I have every reason to run screaming from The Cheetah Girls, but there is something compelling about the game. It is certain to be a hit with girl gamers. The progression of the game follows the Cheetah Girls through three distinct storylines and lets you take control of your favorite girl to lead the group and take care of business between gigs. Each girl actually has a real "mini job" that helps to unlock hidden areas and can build prestige needed to take on larger challenges. During gigs and in practice sessions, the music starts playing and you use timed button presses to earn points. A community bulletin board is the main device for finding your next challenge and there are lots of small tasks to complete between gigs.
Difficulty: Like any rhythm game, there are dexterity tests galore for the Cheetah Girls by way of your thumbs. Fail to make the moves and the girls won't be able to get better gigs or more exposure. Practice makes perfect though, and a moderate level of difficulty means that only the most novice gamers will fail to qualify. Since there are many ways to earn points, such as the jobs assigned to each Cheetah Girl, the dancing and performance doesn't have to be perfect. Perfection is possible, and if you correctly pull off ten moves in a row, you'll be able to tackle more difficult moves that grant bigger rewards. The game plays on rails thanks to a hint system and a fairly limited world in which to move around.
Game Mechanics: Playing The Cheetah Girls game on a DS means you'll have some leftover buttons. The rhythm game components are easy to execute and displayed on-screen in a format that is easy to read and understand. The other controls during your time between gigs are usually limited to movement from side to side and selecting a menu option. There isn't much to strain the brain when it comes to learning Cheetah Girls other than figuring out how to use the Cheetah Cell. Ripped off from Midnight Club? You be the judge... After you get the cell phone, you can dial in previous gigs or locations that you access though the community board. People call during the game and you can dial up contacts you made previously. There are plenty of ways to mix and match using some simple tools like the cell in different locations and at different times during the game. Getting around to practice locations or places on your block is done through walking around or navigating with a map view. Everything is fairly open-ended, but it's impossible to get off track. This makes for a nice flow. The Cheetah Girls game is irresistible, basically. I can't recommend that every man, woman and child run out immediately and grab a copy, so you have to understand this in context. BVG has captured the demographic (girls) perfectly and created a game that is youth-focused without being dumbed down. It's a license game that strives to be more than the sum of its licensed parts, which is hard hard hard to find. If you love watching these little divas on the TV, you'll need to get yourself a copy of The Cheetah Girls for GBA.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
Phil of the Future Bubble Bobble Revolution