Bob The Builder Fix It Fun!
Written: May 22 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Ten fun levels to explore, all the characters from the show, highly entertaining!
Cons: Older kids might get bored with it.
The Bottom Line: Bob The Builder Can We Fix It? Bob The Builder Yes We Can! A fantastic game for all Bob The Builder fans. Educational, fun and easy to learn!
|
|
|
| Freak369's Full Review: THQ Bob The Builder: Fix It Fun! |
It was a rainy afternoon and the skies over Southern California showed no signs of clearing up. Hearing the slosh, slosh, slosh of tennis shoes made things no better. My only solstice was knowing that I was three short miles from a safe haven, a place where time stands still and almost anything you desire is within a few hundred feet. That place? Utopia? No, someplace on a much more grounded level of existence – Wal-Mart.
Call it an impulse buy, call it a waste of money, but I saw the Bob The Builder – Fix It Fun! game and decided [once and for all] I would purchase a game and actually complete it [without a Game Genie, hint book or cheating]. I figured that it can’t get any easier than a game geared towards the 3 – 6 year old age that has an “E” [everyone] rating. I plunked down the cash and downplayed my purchased to the ever-weary sales clerk that tends to dread my little shopping sprees.
The premise of the game is easy to learn and little kids will have an absolute blast with this! Bob and the crew decide to have a nice afternoon picnic but before they are ready to leave Bob says that they aren’t done with their work. They decide to speed up the chores they will divide them up so they get done faster. Each of the characters from the show have different things to tend to and when they clear the chore off the list, they are one step closer to having the picnic.
The Basics
If you have a child that is a fan of the television show, I highly recommend this game. It is a snap to learn, easy to control and you are given plenty of time to complete the timed stages*. Smaller kids that haven’t had much experience with playing the Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance will be able to pick this up and have a good feel of it in about 15 minutes. I highly suggest that you read the instructions to your child while they are following in the booklet but allow them to explore the game and learn through their own trial and error.
One of the nicest things about this game is that it is extremely friendly :] Scoop smiles, Bob smiles, Wendy smiles … even Spud cracks a little grin when you beat him. This is so “kid friendly” that you might have to pull your little one away from it after a while. There’s no violence and the worse – if they can even be called that – scenes would be getting tomatoes tossed at you.
Levels
There are a total of ten levels or stages to the Fit It Fun! game. Each one requires you to find items, deliver mail, collect musical notes and feed Pilchard – to name a few. Each of the games are kept separate and can be accessed from the Job Sheet.
Mrs. Potts Fence: Bobs mission is to find the pieces of fence that have been blown around by the wind. If he fails, Farmer Pickles dog will once again sneak into her flowerbeds and ruin them. Watch out, if Scruffty runs into Bob he might just fall over.
Town Hall Roof: Much like Mrs. Potts Fence, Bob has to wander around the scaffolding to find the missing roof tiles. Lots of climbing up and down as well as avoiding the flying pieces of paper. Great for eye/ hand coordination.
Missing Music: Bad Spud! Bob has been hard at work building a grandstand for Farmer Pickles. The sheet music was left unattended and is now scattered all over the farm scene. Collect them all before Spud makes paper airplanes out of them. Avoid getting hit with the paper airplanes.
Mr. Dixon’s Mail: Help Bob deliver the mail that Spud mixed up. Watch out for Pilchard running around, seems she loves chasing her mouse. Collect all the mail and clear the stage!
Feed Pilchard: Collect all the little fishies that are hidden in the woods so Pilchard will have something to eat at the picnic. Squawk the crow is flying overhead, so be careful!
Muck’s Wall Repair A very fun game where you pick up the missing pieces of the wall and replace them. Muck has to find the right pieces for the missing sections – an arrow will appear if you are having trouble finding the right location for the piece.
Duck Drama: By far the coolest section to clear. Lofty’s crane has to pluck out the baby ducks before they get swept under the bridge. Avoid picking up the pieces of wood but watch for the lunch boxes – they increase the timer.
Dizzy Plays Catch: A little harder of a game so smaller kids might need some help. Spud is tossing apples at you and you have to catch them in order to complete the round. The hole on the mixer is a little too small so you have to line them up perfectly.
Roadwork: Roley needs to smooth out the lumps of gravel that Muck accidentally dropped on the road. You need to drive over the bump then back up then go forward again to flatten it out.
Scoop’s Picnic: The final stage that can only be accessed after all the other stages have been completed. This one is tricky since you are on a path so you may need to do a lot of driving in reverse to find the items needed for the picnic. By far the hardest level but when it’s complete the game is over there is a small celebration and the credits roll.
Saving The Game
When you complete a level you are given the chance to save your game and obtain a four-letter password. The password is set up on two rows, two letters on each row. To make it a little easier, there is a “notes” page in the instruction booklet that comes in handy to write this code down. This is the only time in the game that you can save and obtain a password so try to complete a level before you turn off the game.
Options
There are several different ways to set the game up. You have your choice between the four languages previously mentioned, level of difficulty [easy, medium, hard], music [on or off] and ‘sfx’ / special effects [on or off]. Once you start the game it is almost impossible to get back to this menu – then again – look at who you are dealing with.
Languages
The game can be played in English, French, Spanish or Dutch. The option only pops up once when you initially play the game. I am not sure if there is a way to reset the game to play in another language, the booklet gives no instructions on how this could be done.
Graphics
On a scale of 1 – 10 this gets a solid 7. There are some minor issues with the detail level but you have to remember that this is a Game Boy game so you won’t have all the perks that might come with a Playstation game. Smaller kids will hardly notice the graphics but the adult might find them a little irritating.
Replay Value
You can look at spending between $19.99 - $27.99 for this game so make sure that your child loves Bob The Builder before you fork out the cash for it. Since there are only so many games to play, chances are that after they beat it a few times, they will get bored with it. Die-hard fans might get a little more life out of it. One thing that you can do is try to find all the golden keys – that makes the game a little more difficult. When you find the keys you go to secret rooms where you can get time extension or find hidden picnic items.
Since there are three level so game play – easy, medium and hard – your child might be able to get a little more life out of this than other games that just offer one mode of operation. Even so, after you beat it a few times it does tend to get boring. But I must admit, the first time I beat the game it did boost my video game ego a bit.
Controls
Some of the games require different patterns to move the vehicles or walk around the farm. Each of the games gives details on how characters are maneuvered. Overall, this is a very solid part of the game. There are no complex series of movements nor are there multiple things to do at once [jump while catching something etc]. Kids that have never played a Game Boy may need a little extra time learning the different movements, but that’s all part of the learning process.
Instructions
The 22-page booklet is filled with screen shots* of the game as well as easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for how to play the game. It takes you through all the items on the Job Sheet, gives you time on how to increase the game timer and how the control pads work for each piece of machinery. There is also a section for notes on the next to last page that can be handy for writing down passwords, scores or names of players.
Included In The Box
[1] Direction Booklet
[1] Bob The Builder Poster
[1] Free Stuff Booklet
[1] Gameboy Precaution Booklet
The Bottom Line
Fans of the television show will fall in love with this game. The delightful music that is played during the introduction as well as through the game will surely have them giggling away as they help Bob and his friends complete their chores. It is a very simple game that can be mastered in a few minutes but provide hours of stimulating fun. The activities are interesting and provide a little challenge for younger kids, but they are ‘so’ tough that they give up.
I’m not sure if this would be considered a unisex game or not. Wendy is shown, but she doesn’t really have that much to do with the overall gameplay. So this might not be a huge hit with the girls – but little boys will more than likely go crazy for this.
The Stats
Complete Name: Fit It Fun!
System: Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
UPC: 85138 32096
Check out the official website for more Bob The Builder fun!
www.bobthebuilder.com
As always … thanks for the read :]
^V^ Freak ^V^
Helpful Terms
I decided to add some of the common ‘gamer’ terms with a bit of detail for those of you who are just getting your feet wet with video games
* Timed Stages: A portion of a game where you are typing to beat the clock to complete or clear an area. Some require you to merely beat the time, while others give you a point score for the remaining time on the clock.
* Screen Shots: Images taken from the screen of the game that allow you to see an example of the section being referred to.
* ESRB Entertainment Software Rating Board. A panel that evaluates and rates video games, almost the same way films are given a rating. They can be contacted at 800-771-3772 for more information about the ratings and suitability of games.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.