Are You A Kacheek Freak? Then You Have To Have Hasbro’s Mutant Kacheek Game!
Written: Jul 20 '05
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Pros: Cool games, Haunted Woods 3-D scene, pet options, rare item code.
Cons: Only comes with one Neopet figure!
The Bottom Line: Do you freak over the Kacheek or The Haunted Woods? Take your Neopet addiction on the road with this awesome game!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Playskool NeoPets Mutant Kacheek Interactive Pet |
I guess it’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the Neopet website. Even though it was created for college students then morphed into a site for kids - I am pretty freakin’ proud to say that I am addicted to it. But hey, when you think about it, there are a lot worse things that I could be hooked on. I wasn’t really into the handheld games when they first came out but when the prices started dropping on them I couldn’t resist picking them up if for nothing more than the highly detailed mini figures and rare item codes. When you purchase specially marked Neopet items you get one of these very cool codes that you enter at the Grundo Warehouse; in return you get a rare item in your inventory. Sometimes it’s a weapon, sometimes it’s a gourmet piece of food - but it’s always something that’s pretty expensive. I came across the Kacheek game at a small toy store for $4.00, that’s pretty much the cheapest I’ve ever seen one of the interactive Neopet games so I didn’t think twice about buying it. Beyond all that, it has a nice 3-D scene of the Haunted Woods, one of the darkest and creepiest places in the Neo world.
Hasbro Playskool Neopets Mutant Kacheek Interactive Game
Unlike the Meridell and Faerieland handheld games, this is themed after a single Neopet figure, the Kacheek and allows you to have adventures in The Haunted Woods. Before you do anything with the game you have to set it up by setting the date, time, giving your pet a name, choosing if it will be a boy or girl and how it will greet others. This is pretty much standard with all the interactive handheld games. You’ll want to spend some time getting used to the various icons that appear on the top and bottom of the screen; these allow you to control the functions of the game as well as your pet. They include your pets information, trophies, bank, sleep mode, hospital and food. One important thing is the sleep mode. Your pet usually likes to get up at seven in the morning and go to sleep around nine in the evening; any earlier or later than that and he or she might get grumpy.
Most of the functions of the Neopets website are present in this game; you can shop or hunt for food, store items in your burlap sack [instead of you inventory], feed your pet and of course play games. The book mode is a little different; most people think that this is your pets intelligence level when in fact this is what you hit to display your pets information so you can always check to see how healthy and happy he or she is. Just like the other handheld games in the series this is packaged in a hard plastic case with a pod for the Kacheek figure, there are ports on the body of the game where you put the figure to activate the games and start on your way to getting those first place trophies. If you are skillful enough and get all three of them you will be given a rare item code that you enter at the website to claim your prize. If the code doesn’t work then email customer service or use the onsite bug form [be sure to fill out all the information for the quickest response] and they will send you a new code. Sometimes the codes are older and not in the system any more but they have always sent me new ones when I have had trouble with them. Since this one was one of the newer games in the series the code that came with the game [on a trading card] worked perfectly but I’ve yet to acquire the one from the trophies.
Games
There are four games that you can play on the Mutant Kacheek game; three of which are trophy games that take you one step closer to getting that rare item code! The one game that isn’t a trophy game but is still extremely fun to play is “Scorchy Slots”. As the name implies it is a slot type game that you can play over and over and is a great way to earn NP [neopoints, the currency used at the website and handheld]. This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get some quick cash and the pay outs are pretty nice. two squares will get you 10 NP, three will net you 30 NP, two dots is 20 NP and three is 80 NP, two circles will land you 15 NP and three of them 40 NP. This is sort of a brainless type thing that only requires you to hit one button then let the wheels spin on their own. “Techo Says” is a lot like the old Simon game where you have to press a series of buttons in sequence with what you see and hear on the face of the game. I’ll admit it, I cheated on this game by writing down the directions of the arrows, since you don’t have to do this in a quick manner you can write down the arrows then press them into the game in a correct sequence. Man, do I feel like a complete loser for admitting that. If you can manage to get eleven sequences in a row you will get 100 NP and a trophy! If you get less than eleven in a row then you will still get NP but no trophy.
“Negg Drop” is another cool game that took me a while to get used to because I neglected to read the instructions [something that I do a lot]. The premise of the game is simple; catch the falling bags to get NP - sounds simple huh? Well the thing you have to remember is that the Pant Devil is lurking here and if you catch one of the blank bags he will steal all the points you’ve earned while playing that game. There are three rounds and you have to catch a certain number of bags / sacks per round to advance to the next. Complete all three rounds to earn your trophy and a lot of NP in the process. “Poogle Race” is different from the Neopet website [where you bet on the race but have nothing to do with the actual race itself]. In this version you have to rapidly press buttons to move your Poogle on the race course. You have to win in first place to advance to the second and third round, beat all three and you get your trophy. I’ve never managed to get through the second round and no matter how hard I try, those little Poogles kick my butt every time.
Things To Know
This operates on two AA sized batteries that are housed inside a safety compartment that requires a screwdriver to open. The battery life is pretty long because the game will shut off after about five minutes of inactivity. There is an alarm feature that you can set if you want to wake up at a certain time or need to remember to do something and there’s also a Neopian calendar that lets you know about special events and the details of them. This is something that’s available on the games that were released at the end of 2002 and in 2003, earlier games don’t have this feature. If you don’t use the game or interact with your pet for fourteen days, he or she will pack up her things and leave - the image of the little Neopet walking into the sunset on your screen really is sad ... you are then prompted to adopt another Neopet. Consider this a simplifies version of the older models that were called “Deluxe World” games, these are still designed for kids that are over the age of six and since it does have some small pieces, you should keep this away from children that might be tempted to taste test things.
The Bottom Line
This handheld in the Neo World series is nice but I hate the fact that it only comes with one figure. There are some nice improvements to it such as the calendar and sounds but you are still dealing with the small black and white screen so things aren’t all that detailed. This is a nice game for those who are hooked on the site and want to play a smaller version. Be sure to look for the trading card that comes with this, there should be a code on it that you can enter at the site. Some packages don’t have these so make sure you look to see if it is a “specially marked package” that says it has one of these codes inside it. This is in addition to the code you get for getting the high scores on the trophy games. For the price of $4.00 I got a great game at a great price; normally these sell for two to three times as much so I was pretty lucky to find this for such a low price. If you love Kacheek’s then this is a must have!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $4.00
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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