Crayola Treasure Adventures (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Because of the touch screen the DS not only boasts a library of original games but also a whole host of titles which would be more at home on your average PC. The main reason for this is the ability for the stylus to double as a mouse and this means not only games but also entertainment and even educational titles. Enter Crayola with their Treasure Adventures where developers Firebrand may has hit on that perfect mix of traditional and computer pastimes. Well, at first glance, at least, it has all the plus points: no need for bulky equiment, no losing crayons and, more importantly, all pictures can simply be wiped and reused so, no wasted paper. Everything appears to be present and correct there but is it any fun to play and surely we're all better off with pencils, crayons and paper aren't we?

Gameplay

Rather than being a straight creative tool the cart is split into two different sections the first of which is the adventure so we'll go there first. This section is split into three differnt locations although only one is available initially and these play out on a kind of treasure map. The first of these is the jungle and like the other it's split into nine different activities: three each of jigsaws, dot-to-dots and speed colouring. These all require different skills and while all are kept very simple you have to remember the age range all these are aimed at. Once you've completed these sections you'll not only unlock a unique character but also pictures to colour over in the Colouring Book section.

This gives you a generous amount of line drawings where you can experiment in any number of ways with your colours and textures. It's also programmed, again for the youger gamer in mind so any one colour can only occupy a single area so painting over the lines is not an option. This makes for some pleasing results and with everything covered from Dinosaurs and Cars to Farm animals and Sea creaturs pretty much everyone is catered for.

Controls

It's all touch-screen so traditional controls are out.

Graphics

Given that this is a Crayola Crayons package you'd expect it to be bright and cheerful and, on the whole it doesn't dissapoint and while the graphics are by no means groundbreaking they are well drawn and upbeat.

Sound

While you don't generally expect titles of this nature to have a great soundtrack it's actually very good with a great range of tunes which will have you tapping your foot as you decide what colours best suit a dinosaur.

Dual screen

Unlike other games this creative title is perfectly suited to the stylus as a control interface and once you learn to get along with it's limitations, such as the crayons not always registaring on the paper, you are likely to gain a great deal of enjoyment from the package.

Final comments

If there was ever a game (or entertainment title) which truely embraced the stylus then this is it and younger games will delight in not only drawing away but also being able to select a different colour and texture with a simple click. It's also much easier manipulating jigsaw pieces and joining the dots using this process than it ever was with the d-pad. Of course, once you have exhausted the main game the fact that you can now colour a seemingly endless amont of pictures, with your virtual crayons, gives the whole package an incredible amount of replay value and it's clear that Crayola Treasure Adventures will only really come into it's own when on long journeys only without the need for a large bag of crayons and colouring book. Clearly this will never replace the joy of the real thing but it's a close second. Highly recomended for all you budding artists out there.

Pro: Great Visuals with Impressive Replay Value.
Con: Could do with a little more variety.
Final score: 7.7

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