Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Disney Interactive Developer: Disney Interactive Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Arcade
Graphics & Sound: As with the past two Lizzie McGuire games, Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc takes its look from the cartoon segments of the TV show. The overall look is very pleasing, even if it is a little too bright in some areas. The bright color palette works in the game's favor and makes things really easy to see, even when playing on an original GameBoy Advance. All of the characters and objects are also really big, which should help to make the game easy for younger gamers. Sound and music is typically ?Lizzie?. The songs that play during each mini-game are bright and up-tempo. Each tune also works with whatever the theme of the game you're currently playing and stay out of the way, allowing you to concentrate more on the game than other things. Sound effects are kept to a bare minimum, again allowing you to concentrate more on playing than worrying about other distractions.
Gameplay: Instead of taking the platformer route seen in the last two games, Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc goes the micro-game route. As you would expect, the game feels a lot like WarioWare; in fact, a number of the games featured in Homecoming Havoc are carbon copies of the games seen in WarioWare (only with a decidedly feminine touch). Homecoming Havoc is broken up into two main modes: Competition and Trial. Competition is where most of the action happens. The basic setup finds Lizzie running for Homecoming Queen at her school, a task that for some reason or another requires her to take part in dozens of random mini-games. There is really no rhyme or reason as far as the mini-game's layout goes; each game pops up at random, which keeps the game from becoming to stale. On the downside, the number of games available is rather small, so don't expect a fresh experience every time you play. After a certain number of games are completed, you can then take part in a Dance-Off, which runs in the familiar DDR "match the arrows" pattern. After unlocking mini-games in Competition mode, you can replay them in Trial mode.
Difficulty: Difficulty ranges from really easy to sort of hard. The biggest issue is figuring out what to do and when to do it. None of the games have directions, leaving much of the burden on the player to figure out what's going on. In other words, it?s A LOT of trial-and-error. Were the game aimed at an older audience, I wouldn't mind the lack of directions as much, but considering the group that is likely to buy this game, I can see a few frustrated faces. Some of this frustration is likely to be compounded by the game's quick pacing, since games begin and end at a lightning tempo. This requires quick thinking since you're moved into several scenarios in a matter of minutes, each with its own play-style. Again, this leads to a lot of trial-and-error, so it wouldn't be a bad idea for parents to play with younger kids in order to help them get a handle on what's going on.
Game Mechanics: For the most part, all of the games in Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc are simple. Yes, there's a learning curve required to understand what's going on, but at least the games aren't so complex that they're no fun. Most games involve moving Lizzie around an area and dodging objects, while others have players applying makeup, lighting candles or timing button presses with actions on-screen. Controls are very easy and stick to one or two buttons presses. Aside from the minor difficulty issues (which are more likely to be felt by the younger set), one of the main problems with Homecoming Havoc is the small number of mini-games included. I wasn't able to get an exact count, though the number of repeat appearances of certain games didn't make the number seem too high. Still, all of the games are fun and there is definite replay value. Other than adding a few more games, the only glaring problem was the lack of reward for completing tasks. A few unlockables (or perhaps a Lizzie Dress-up Mode) would have really helped. Still, if you know a Lizzie fan, Homecoming Havoc is enjoyable.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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