I spy universe nds download

The rhymes of I Spy are actually a much more interesting means of presenting your goals than just giving the player a checklist to go down like many hidden object games. You might be asked to find a certain number of objects for example, but it might ask for some clever thinking from the player, such as asking for the player to find a certain amount of horses… one of which is a seahorse. Instead, the bottom screen shows a small square of the area zoomed in while the top screen can be made to show the entire area, both screens helping in different ways.

I Spy Universe presents its level select as you traveling between different colored zones where you pick between the two hidden object screens available in that zone. The game where you match shadows to their well lit counterpart has a few tricks put into it where you need to note small details of the shadow before selecting your answer, and it can even be said the game subtly trains you for this timed minigame with the I Spy screen that is exclusively objects in shadow form.

The game where you rotate tiles to guide a marble through a maze is also a bit more than the basics, but all of them are still incredibly lenient with their timers, their worst sin being too easy rather than sticking around long enough to be boring or annoying. They do probably crop up too frequently however thanks to the need to keep unlocking zones, but even just a few more screens to play I Spy on would have been preferred over these mostly shallow diversions.

However, the game stretches its 12 unique play areas through repetition and interrupts play with overly simple minigames, making it feel a little threadbare despite the search-and-find gameplay being decent enough. An OKAY rating. Perhaps appropriately, I Spy Universe has about the same amount of content as your typical I Spy book, just made more portable and convenient.

Taking breaks from playing will certainly lessen your familiarity and allow the pages to feel fresh, but having a few more play areas would be preferable over so many repeat visits to the ones on offer and the minigames that very rarely provide anything too interesting on their own.

The mini games between puzzles also increase with difficulty, starting out easy and getting somewhat less easy as you go. Some of the mini games didn't have very clear instructions, however. If you get stuck and can't find an item, you can ask for a hint.

Then the game just shows you where the item is on the larger puzzle screen. You can't keep asking for hints, however. You have to wait until the hint button appears again on the screen. But don't give up too soon. Sometimes the rhyming poem clues will try to trick you with puns in the later levels, so think creatively. To get back to the main menu where you can choose another player, keep pressing the B button.

This isn't made clear in the game. Also, if you want to go back and play any of the mini games that you have already unlocked, you can also do this from the menu. There were some negatives to the game. One is that the hint button is right next to the others, and you could accidentally press it. My daughter and I have each done this. Also, because of the screen sizes, you can only see either the full clue puzzle or the written clues at any given time. You can switch between them, however.

Finally, when you're searching for tiny items, the DS resolution isn't high enough to make the images really clear. Staring at those tiny pixels for so long started to hurt my eyes. This wasn't a problem for the larger hidden items, however.

I Spy Universe was fun for me to play, to test my memory by seeing how many of the items I could remember to search for at a time. I usually found all the items after two systematic passes of the screen, but occasionally it took an extra pass or two. I finished the game pretty quickly, but play time will fortunately be longer for kids, and the puzzles and games will be more of a challenge.

In all, the price is a bit high for someone like me who can whiz through it and will probably not play it a second time. It is a much better deal for children of elementary age, however, especially those like my son who will play and replay the game a dozen times. Saves your place and allows concurrent games. Tired : Resolution is a bit low for the tiny items.