My, how the Littlest Pet Shop franchise has grown since I was a kid. Hasbro rebooted the brand in 2005 with all new merchandise and redesigned the animals to all have giant heads, as seen in this ad for the games.
Littlest Pet Shop Friends: Beach is one of a number of LPS titles for the Nintendo DS. It gets off to a good start with a few mini-games and an easy to follow introduction to moving around with the characters, but as the game progresses you start to realize it isn’t just a tutorial; this is the main gameplay.
The plot revolves around throwing a surprise party for the best friend of one of the pets. The game leads you through the world with a giant flashing pink arrow and instructions on the upper screen at all times. Like so many other games marketed to kids the gameplay isn’t just linear; it’s practically dragging you through the narrative. It feels less like a game and more like watching a subtitled animation, with occasional mini-games thrown in for good measure.
The mini-games are generally well done, but they’re almost all variations on “drag the right thing to a certain spot quickly.” The controls can be twitchy, making some of the games difficult even on the easiest level. They’re not at all bad, but for a title where mini-games are the main offering, they come up short.
Playing mini-games earns you kibble, which can be traded for a wide variety of accessories. Certain items are necessary to advance the story, which makes it slightly more interesting than the usual avatar dress-up. Many of the items can be color customized, and additional colors can be unlocked by finding raw materials in the game world and mixing them up at the in-game paint shop.
There’s quite a bit of reading to do, making it best suited for players who are already strong readers or have an older sibling/parent to help them. Older gamers may get a kick out of the dialog, there are a number of nods to other games, such as the line, “I would never lie about cake.”
The bottom line: It’s a cute title if you’re into big headed animals, but the minigames and story are nothing to write home about.
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Gameplay – 3 Stars
There’s actually a fair amount to do here, but the overbearing guidance sucks some of the fun out of it.
Replay Value – 3 Star
There are enough different things to do to keep players engaged for a little while.
Artwork – 4 Star
The artwork and 3D both look pretty good; nothing earth shattering, but it’s nice to see polished graphics.
Creativity – 2 Stars
Paint mixing gives players the chance to customize their accessories, and a coloring mini-game lets you paint portraits of your pets.
Messaging – 3 Star
The pets are more or less gender neutral, and the themes center around celebrating friendship. Innocuous if not particularly inspiring.
