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PLATFORM: DVD
DEVELOPER: Disney
PUBLISHER: Disney
Yet another entry in a long list of cash grabs for Disney’s two top-selling properties.
THE PITCH
“Hm, all I have is a copy of Photoshop and DVD Studio Pro. How am I gonna use that to make a lot of money?”
THE PLAY
Yeah so I don’t know if “play” is the operative term here. Hell, this only qualifies as an MCP Review on a technicality. Basically you’re just navigating a glorified set of DVD Menus. What you have is a collection of mini-games that revolve around the theme of the disc (in this case – High School Musical and Hannah Montana). There are trivia games, memory games, little point-and-click action games and personality quizzes, but what manages to bump this set up a notch or two are the “party game” elements. These weren’t necessarily designed to be played by yourself in your bedroom. They’ve thrown in dance lessons and karaoke components and charades-type activities that are actually really great for the ADD sort of giggly chaos that goes hand-in-hand with a little girl’s slumber party.
THE PRESENTATION
Saying these were only designed with Photoshop and a DVD Authoring program was a teency bit of an exaggeration. While they were the main driving forces, there was a little bit of effort put into these. There are some snazzy animations on the menus and some of the games and a lot of the trivia questions come with “Scene It” style video clips. It’s actually a really well programmed discs. It’s obvious that the main template was copied for both versions and they just interchanged the visuals without fiddling too much with the structure, but the only problem I can see with that is that it can tend to get a bit old if you switch back and forth between discs. Though I should point out – the reason there are no grabs here is because the way the discs are written completely freaked out the DVD-Rom on my laptop. So take that for what it’s worth.
THE REPLAY
But of course that goes back to what I said earlier – if you pull these out in the proper environment they’ll be fun but be dismissed well before they’ve worn out their welcome. Which actually makes the replay value pretty high in that particular situation. It’s not something your kid’s gonna pull out and play on a regular basis (nor should it be), but as part of an overall party package, it’s definitely handy to have on hand.
THE VERDICT
They’re fine for what they are. They may be just cash grabs but a touch of extra effort was put in and it’s apparent. If your kids are into these two properties they’ll dig what’s offered.