Dora the Explorer (video game series)

Dora the Explorer video games are a series of games designed for preschoolers based on the 2000 Nick Jr. television show Dora the Explorer.

Game titles

Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures is an adventure game for the Gameboy Advance released in 2004. It was developed by Imaginengine and published by Global Star.^[1] The game uses pictures and symbols to communicate rather than words. The object of the game is to capture one of the six explorer stars. Each explorer star has a special power such as the ability to be noisy or the ability to create music. In order to capture the star, the player must complete a hide-and-seek activity. These activities include maze navigation, matching games, side-scrolling race games, a "Frogger"-type game, a complete-the-pattern activity and a song playing game.^[2]

Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet is an action-adventure game, developed by Monkey Bar Games, published by Global Star Software and powered by Vicious Engine. The game was released for Gamecube in North America on October 13, 2005,^[3] and later in PAL regions on December 16, 2005. The Playstation 2 version was released on PAL regions on December 2, 2005, and later in North America in February 9, 2006.^[4] The game is about Dora and Boots who finds some lost aliens from the purple planet. However, to take them home, she and Boots are required to collect keys to open the space gate, leading to the saturn planet. The game is unique in that it uses pictures and symbols to communicate rather than words. The object of the game is to capture one of the six explorer stars. Each explorer star has a special power such as the ability to be noisy or the ability to create music. In order to capture the star, the player must complete a hide-and-seek activity. These activities include maze navigation, matching games, side-scrolling race games, a "Frogger"-type game, a complete-the-pattern activity and a song playing game.^[5]

Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves The Mermaids is an adventure game released by Black Lantern Studios in North America in 2007 for the Nintendo DS,^[6] and by Totally Games for the Playstation 2 in 2008.^[7] It was later released in PAL regions that same year.^{[8][9][10][11]} Dora Saves the Mermaids is set in the Mermaid Kingdom where an evil octopus insists on dumping garbage into the ocean, making the Mermaid Kingdom covered in trash. Players assume the role of Dora who must help Mariana the Mermaid find her missing magical mermaid crown. But the only way to accomplish the task is for Dora to become a mermaid herself. Along the way (95% of the time), players run Dora around snaking paths, pick up gems and get from point A to point B while encountering wrinkles as things that bounce or catapult Dora into the air.^[12]

Dora Puppy is a puppy simulation game developed by Take-Two Interactive for the Nintendo DS and published by 2K Play in North America^[13] and Australia in 2009, and in Europe in 2010. Players must help Dora take care of her puppy, Perrito, and help train him for doggie competitions. Care involves washing and brushing, providing food and water, letting the dog outside to do its business, cleaning up paw prints, and playing several different games with the puppy. Players earn tokens for each task, which they can use to buy new toys or clothes for Perrito, or to enter him into the Big Puppy Competition. The competition involves helping Perrito run an obstacle course and having him strike poses. All the actions are performed by either tracing certain shapes with the stylus or calling out commands into the DS's microphone.^[14]

Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom is a side-scrolling game developed by High Voltage Software and published 2K Games. It was released for Wii in North America on November 3, 2009,^[15] and in Europe on November 27, 2009. The game was later than released on Computer Platforms and the Playstation 2 in North America on November 12, 2009.^[16][17][18] The game is about a King that has hid the Crystals in the Crystal Kingdom, and Dora and boots must find all of the crystals to save the Crystal Kingdom. As the game is played, players have to find 4 color crystals in three of the stories, plus the one from the king. Before players go into the storybook, players have to collect as many pages as they can for that story, which some pages are hidden in crystal barrels which boots can dive into them to get the page out of the barrel.

An iPhone app called "Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom - Rainbow Ride" was released for $3 on the iTunes Store on May 4, 2011. In the app, players tilt the phone left and right to steer Dora along a twisty rainbow slide which players ride over crystals to collect them, and count along with Dora with each recovered crystal. The app also includes a coloring book application within the game that lets iPhone users use the color crystals to color the Crystal Kingdom via a touch screen coloring book.^[19]

Dora's Cooking Club was published by 2K Play on October 26, 2010 in North America.^[20] In the game, players have to chop veggies, stir soups, top pizzas, and more using math skills. They may be sorting cookies into numbered groups or counting out different amounts of ingredients.^[21]

Development

On November 5, 2009, 2K Play announced the game on their official press release, along with Ni Hao, Kai-lan: New Year's Celebration and other games that were developed by High Voltage Software. The games feature voice actors from the popular Nickelodeon television shows.

The games were reviewed for age-appropriateness, fun-factor and quality. 2K also packaged a "Kid-Tested" seal and a one month free subscription to Nick Jr. Boost, an online service with a focus on learning.^[22]

Steve Lux, vice president of business development for 2K Play, said "Whether rowing with your Wii Remote in an exciting Dragon Boat race or caring for Dora's adorable puppy Perrito on Nintendo DS, we're kicking off the holiday season with our most creative and innovative lineup of preschool Nickelodeon games to date. With these new releases, we're bringing imaginative play, exploration and teamwork to life for preschoolers in an interactive fashion," said Shaan Kandawalla, vice president, digital retail games at Nickelodeon.".

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly's Seanbaby stated, "[...] [Super Star Adventures] is for idiots. I don't care if they're four; if they play this, they're idiots." ^[23]

IGN's Chris Roper gave Journey to the Purple Planet a 7.0/10. Chris said that the Decent, simple puzzles are well-placed in the Dora universe." and stated "Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet can be a fun adventure for young children who are learning their first school-related skills, like how to count, pick out colors, etc. The fact that it's tied to a highly popular television show is certainly a bonus as well. There are a couple drawbacks, like the fact that it doesn't actually teach in any way, it lacks an autosave and there might be a confusing section or two. For the most part though, the game does a good job of presenting simple puzzles with the Dora the Explorer franchise in a way that will please and entertain young kids.".^[24]

Dora Saves the Mermaids received mixed reviews from critics. The DS version received an aggregate score of 55.40% from Gamerankings (5 reviews),^[25] while the Playstation 2 versions received a 64% from Gamerankings (2 reviews).^[26] In an IGN review, Sam Bishop did praise the game for pulling the voice actors from the show, which he said "was a wise move." and the visuals, which he said "do absolutely nothing to wow, but don't look terribly ugly either.", but criticized the game's variety that he said "would have helped keep the entertainment up above the level of, say, passively watching that Dora DVD for the 857 millionth time.", stating "As an educational tool, Dora Saves the Mermaids falls flat. As a simple distraction, it falls short, and as a game that is meant to get adults in on the action to help out, it isn't really a very collaborative experience. Yes, it's a kids game, but that doesn't mean that it has to feel like a bit of a rip-off."^[27]

In a Common Sense Media Review, Jinny Gudmundsen awarded the Crystal Kingdom 5 stars, and called it a "perfect starter game for Wii.".^[28] Kyle Sudukis on Impulsive Gamer gave the game a 7.6/10, and said that the game "is not like the other edutainment titles from Dora the Explorer but is an actual arcade style Wii game which uses the motion sensitivity of the Nintendo Wii controls.", stating "I applaud 2K Play for creating a girl only game and thankfully it's not edutainment or a game that has been slapped together. Mirroring many aspects of other arcade games, Dora save the Crystal Kingdom is a colourful delight that will captivate the younger gamer while they explore a variety of worlds and meet familiar faces from the Dora the Explorer Universe. Not bad at all!".^[29]

References

1. ^ "Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures". IGN. http://gameboy.ign.com/objects/708/708236.html. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
2. ^ Global Star Software (2004) Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures Manual
3. ^ http://cube.ign.com/objects/480/480899.html
4. ^ http://ps2.ign.com/objects/776/776722.html
5. ^ Global Star (2004) Dora the Explorer: Super Star Adventures Manual
6. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids - DS - IGN
7. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids - PS2 - IGN
8. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves The Mermaids - DS - IGN AU
9. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves The Mermaids - PS2 - IGN AU
10. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves The Mermaids - DS - IGN UK
11. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids - PS2 - IGN
12. ^ Black Latern Studios (2007) Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids Manual
13. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Puppy - DS - IGN
14. ^ 2K Play (2009) Dora the Explorer: Dora Puppy Manual
15. ^ http://wii.ign.com/objects/023/023798.html
16. ^ http://ps2.ign.com/objects/042/042449.html
17. ^ http://mac.ign.com/objects/084/084872.html
18. ^ http://pc.ign.com/objects/084/084871.html
19. ^ iTunes App
20. ^ Dora's Cooking Club - DS - IGN
21. ^ 2K Play (2010) Dora's Cooking Club Manual
22. ^ Nickelodeon's Ni Hao, Kai-lan, Dora the Explorer and The Backyardigans video games in stores now.. IGN.
23. ^ Seanbaby (Mar. 2005). "Seanbaby's Rest of the Crap". Electronic Gaming Monthly (189): 136. 
24. ^ Roper, Chris Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet - Playstation 2 review, IGN. Retrieved 2005-12-06.
25. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids for DS - Gamerankings
26. ^ Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids for PS2 - Gamerankings
27. ^ "What's Spanish for Mediocre". IGN. July 10, 2011. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/866/866295p1.html. 
28. ^ Gudmundsen, Jinny Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom - Video game Review, Common Sense Media.
29. ^ Sudukis, Kyle Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom (Wii) review. Impulsive Gamer.

External links

• 2K Games official website