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7 Days of Video Games: Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Posted by Chris Ford

 

If you've got a Wii and a little girl who is really into princesses, then chances are you've probably looked this game over. And while in my experience it's not really a very good video game per se, it does have one thing that makes it better than most of the games on the Wii we have (and I'm not just talking about the fact that it features the Disney princesses). It's a game my three year old daughter and I can actually play together, which is what it's really all about.

The game is pretty simple. You get to be a princess (that you customize with hair, dress, jewelry etc.) that goes around and helps all of the Disney princesses. There are Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel "stories" that you become a part of, and you run around their respective kingdoms helping defeat bad goblins that turn into butterflies with your magic. Sounds mind-numbing, right? Well, it kind of is, but my daughter loved it not just for the stories, but because she could play too.

The game is played with the Wii "Nunchuck" (the thumb controller that attaches to the normal "Wiimote" controller) and the "Wiimote." You use the Nunchuck to run around in the game, and you use the Wiimote to wave your wand and shoot magic at the bad guys. The way my daughter and I played it was she was in charge of the wand and I was in charge of running our character around the map. The system worked out really well, and after a few weeks of playing it here and there we even finished the game.

The game itself doesn't seem to be written very well. It has lots of glitchy moments when you can't figure out where you're supposed to go, the audio levels are all over the place making it hard to hear the story sometimes, and to play you have to be physically much closer to your television than most other Wii games I've played. It also doesn't look nearly as polished as most other Wii games out there, but if you're looking for a game that you can do with someone who quite frankly isn't coordinated or old enough to play a video game by themselves, then this is a game you might want to check out.

Ultimately, it's a good example of how well the unique Wii controller system works, and how it's the best video game system out there for families.

Buy Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey for the Wii for $19.99 (cheap) from Amazon.
And shop Amazon for a Wii System (if you can find one).


+ DIGG + STUMBLE

Comments

 

Su said:

I borrowed Disney Princess Enchanted Journey from Blockbuster.  My niece and I finished all of the chapters for Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderrella, Belle but can not open the gate in chapter 1 of Snow White.  Help!  Do we have to put a secret code to go through Snow White's gate (where dwarf is standing)?  

August 3, 2008 10:23 AM
 

Virginia said:

I had the same problem.  I just kept casting spells with the wand several different ways and times and finally it opened.

August 3, 2008 10:27 PM
 

Virginia said:

My kids were just playing the game again and came across the gate again.  The trick is to change the wand color to green by going onto the green orb  and moving the controller left to right. Then go to the gate and swing the controller left to right again.  This should open the gate.  Good luck.

August 3, 2008 11:14 PM
 

Dad said:

"and to play you have to be physically much closer to your television than most other Wii games I've played"

The communications between the remote and the system is all hardware based. I'm not sure this has anything to do with how it was "written".

This sounds awesome, though. My daughter is so into princesses. Might be my excuse to get a Wii ("honestly, dear, our daughter wanted me to buy Rock Band for it!")

August 4, 2008 10:47 AM

About Chris Ford

Chris Ford is a raconteur, musician, technophile, Certified Sommelier, and modern design-obsessed stay-at-home dad in Las Vegas. He has also recently grown a beard, which he thinks is awesome but his wife thinks is a sign that he's finally cracked. When he's not busy traveling the world looking for cool products for children and parents, you can find him shuttling his two daughters to and from casinos.

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