Freak369's Full Review: Blues Clues Big Musical for PlayStation 1
Even though my youngest would kill me if he knew I mentioned this in a review - he used to love this game! There is something so cute about the characters, the format of the game and the ease of play that I really love - so much so that when I am frustrated with games like Spyro and Croc I grab this and toss it in to calm down. This version of the game is more than a few years old and I am not sure if they have a newer version with Joe as the host instead of Steve. This one has Steve Burns, the former host of the television show, as your helpful guide through the game. Well, actually, it isn’t Steve, it’s a computer generated Steve and my, does he have a rather strange looking head! The games are easy for kids to play, they help with eye hand coordination and there are some learning lessons built into the games. This is a must have for fans of the television show and it is something that kids love to play over and over again.
Blues Clues Big Musical - PlayStation 1
First off, you will want to have a memory card for your Playstation so your child can save his or her game and go back to it to complete it. When I run through the game it doesn’t take me very long to do things but I pretty much know where everything is hidden or where to find the guests. The games are really cute and they are a lot of fun for the younger kids and you can get to them from the main menu without going into the game. There’s also a parental set up screen when you load it up that allows you to get to different parts of the game or change the volume levels. One thing you might want to do if you are playing this with a really young child is to turn off the vibration mode via the parental menu. This might scare smaller kids but so far all the ones that have played it at my house have loved it when Blue jumps over something or dances around and the controller vibrates. The parental set up screen allows you to change the volume of the game or the sound effects and is a nice perk to the set up portion of the game.
The game revolves around Blue and Steve putting on a big musical but first there’s some work to be done. Clues need to be found, they have to pick out songs, set up the stage and make sure that everyone gets an invitation to the big event. Handing out the invitations is pretty easy, when Blue sees one of her friends all she has to do is hand them an invite to the party - well, actually you have to press the “X” button to give them one. While you are going through the game you might see clues [something that is flashing or blinking]. When you press the “X” button it activates Steve and Notebook and the clue is added to the icon list on the screen. This lets you see the clues that you’ve collected and try to guess what it is that they are after. You are going from room to room, outside and even to the library in this game so you sort of have to pay attention to where you are going and where you’ve been. This is the one thing that I didn’t like about the game, it is a little hard for younger kids to remember exactly where a certain room is or how they go about getting back to a part of the house. If you get tripped up or lost you can look in the booklet that comes with the game for the map of all the different areas.
There are a total of ten mini games that you can play to help Blue and Steve get the party under way. In each game a different character from the show needs to accomplish something. In “Search & Recovery” you need to help Shovel & Pail help collect props for the show. You travel around the back yard picking up things to help them out. One of my favorites is the “Cupcake Color Game” you have to help Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper with the cupcakes. It’s Paprika’s job to add the sprinkles but she needs some help from Blue. Match up the sprinkles to the colored frosting and you are one step closer to the big show. “Music & Motion” is a lot like Red Light, Green Light, Yellow Light ,Stop! You have to try to reach Fifi before anyone else does but you can only move when you hear the music playing. If you are caught moving when the music stops you have to start all over again. Another cute one is “Bustin’ Bubbles” wher eyou have to use Blue to pop the bubles in the tub so Slippery Soap can use the tub to clean off his boat for the show. This is one f the easier games to control and kids really love having Blue pop all the floating bubbles. Other games include “Silly Hat”, “Magic Matching” and “Rhythym And Blue”
All of the characters you see on the show are in the game - like Blue, Steve, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper [and even Paprika!], Tickety Tock, Shovel and Pail, Mailbox and Periwinkle. Until I played this game I had no idea that the little felt people had names - they are Freddie and Fifi! There’s also someone named Felix who I am assuming is another felt friend, Purple Kangaroo, Magenta Kangaroo and Woodpecker. There are other characters that you’ll meet along the way as you play the game but I’ll leave those as a surprise. All of the images are very colorful and cute and yes, even the cats that are in the game are adorable. Be sure to look out for those clues, you’ll need to find them all to ensure that everyone makes it to the party and has a great time!
Game Rating
This is rated as an “EC” [early childhood] game so it’s great for kids of all ages to play. There’s no violence, foul language or anything that even the most sensitive parents might find questionable. Come on now, it’s Blue’s Clues - it doesn’t get any cleaner than this if you are looking for a Playstation game for kids.
The Bottom Line
Adults might get a little frustrated with the small lags in game play when you wander from room to room but kids don’t really pick up on this. They just assume that it’s part of the game. There are plenty of sights, sounds and songs to keep them entertained while they are playing and there is some educational content to it as well. They’ll be exposed to things like musical instrucitons, songs, matching up shapes and colors and trying to remember the differennt parts of the house and neighborhood. This is an extremely cute game for kids that are into the television show and love the characters. I’m not sure if they made a newer version with Joe instead of Steve so if you’d child isn’t used to Steve then you might want to go with a game that features the newer host rather than the older one. Annabelle has played this a few times and really gets a kick out of the mini games but she refuses to play it if any of the boys are around, god forbid they see her playing Blue’s Clues!
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