Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Short Version:At first I was a bit put off by how easy the mini-games seemed, but (as is often the case with Pop Cap's games) I found it difficult to put down.This is a good activity for getting your mental gears turning in a relaxed way.
If you need a gift for somebody $20 or under and you know that person has a DS, this is a good option for you.
The Long Version:
While the story does provide a nice theme for the various mini-games that make up "Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins", it's incidental.
I'm in my early 30's and, as I said, at first the puzzles seemed too easy for me, but as I played I realized that the puzzles were comfortably challenging.Some things were very easy and some things were actually quite difficult and at no time did I want to throw my DS against the wall.(Unlike Professor Layton and the Curious Village.)
Much of the game is made up of "find the object in this picture" levels, but each of those is accompanied by one of 5 mini-games.
- Memory Match
- Jigsaw Puzzle
- Tile Swap
- Mah-Jongg Match
- Find the Difference (between two pictures)
The game manages to keep things fresh by switching things up slightly.For instance, in the Memory Match and the Mah-Jongg Match they occasionally ask that you find similar items or items that go together rather then an exact match.So instead of matching two blue bird tiles you would instead match a blue bird with a yellow bird or a blue bird with an egg, depending on what the game was asking for that round.This keeps the various mini-games from getting too repetitive too fast.
Each "location" with a "find objects" game has two extra items, a jade mask and a jade glyph.If you don't find one or both the first time in a particular location they will still be there when you return in subsequent levels.As you find the masks and glyphs it unlocks each of the mini-games in "free play" mode and opens up "unlimited seek and solve".Amazing Adventures also has it's own version of XBox Live style Achievements which are called "Awards".
The game will penalize you for randomly tapping around the screen rather then carefully choosing an item you think is the one you need.Also, the "Hint" button is useful without being completely obvious.It will cost you some of your points to use, and it's also on a timer before it recharges and you can use it again.The amount of time the hint button takes to recharge is long enough for you to get involved in actually looking yourself again while you're waiting, but not so long that it's painful to wait.The developers have provided intensives not to abuse certain game play elements that would lower the difficulty of the task, but don't try to stop you from doing these things altogether.I rather like that approach.
The look of the game is nice and in keeping with theme of the game.(Very "Indiana Jones'ish".)Likewise the music pleasant to hear without demanding too much of your attention as you play.
If the person you are getting this for is a tween who's at that point everybody goes through where they decide they're too cool for.. everything, this might not be the right choice.However, if they give it a chance (when nobody's looking of course) and play it for any length of time?They'll be at it for hours just like the rest of us.
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Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten RuinsProduct Description: Travel to an archaeological dig to unearth a lost Mayan temple and its priceless treasure in this exclusive story for Nintendo DS
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