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Groovy Chick My Fashion World
Targeting a much younger
and gender specific target group, Groovy Chick My Fashion World by Mindscape is the
latest children's game on the Nintendo DS which creates a virtual beauty
salon. For girls who are into fashion, make-up and the like, Groovy
Chick could be the perfect game for them as they perform a variety of
mini-games, all in the name of fashion and looking good. Interestingly
enough, the game even contains a story of the main character trying to
find Prince Charming. How's that for cute?
Features
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Discover your
favourite style among the 12 exclusive wardrobes: casual, glamour,
ball, rock, hip-hop, beach, sporty, college, formal, disco,
flurokids and 70’s collections
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Participate in
fashion shows and live an exciting adventure in New York’s fashion
jungle
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2 modes of play
Quickplay – experience the day to day running of your own salon
Storyline – a real adventure in New York’s fashion world
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4 studios – dressing
room, hairdresser, make-up and manicure
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Earn your reputation
by completing all the tasks and challenges
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Gameplay takes full
advantage of the stylus and microphone
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Original gameplay
and strong storyline
The story of Groovy
Chick revolves around Fleur who has just opened a new beauty store and now
she needs to start making money by catering for a variety of different
customers. Including a large spectrum of clientele that include waitresses
and actresses, Fleur must listen to their requests and through the
gamers' own imagination and flair, they must pamper these women and make
them look good. You also need to build in your boutique by dressing your clients and
you even get
scored on your technique by getting stars which assists Fleur in finding
Mr. Right.
In essence, the game revolves around a variety of mini-games that
includes hairdressing, creating unique and suitable hairstyles for
clients or our favourite, creating manicures for customers and best of
all, the developers have included some of the unique controls of the DS
into the game. Although the stylus is the main device used to interact with
the gaming environment, the user needs to use the microphone and by
blowing on the microphone, this helps with the nail polish to dry. Cool
hey?
Customers also have
quite strange requests like asking to look good for the beach and you
need to find them the appropriate hair cut and even wardrobe for the
event. Another nifty feature is that the Nintendo DS must be held like
a book while playing which in essence gives more real estate for the
game's graphics.
In terms of gameplay, the mini-games for older gamers
would become a little repetitive as it's basically style, groom and
select a wardrobe and then repeat these steps. With this in mind, the
game wasn't trying to be clever but rather targeting a particular age and
gender that needless to say, works quite well.
In term's of graphics, Groovy Chick looks like it has been hand drawn
and looks quite 2D at times, however with a varied colour palette. Even
though the graphics look simplistic at times, it actually suits the game
itself and looks like a kid's title. Where the game is lacking is
through the music and sound that "sounds" quite un-inspirational and a
little lackluster at the best of times.
In conclusion, Groovy
Chick My Fashion World is definitely for those little princesses out there who like to
play dress up and this is the virtual solution to keep them happy. It will also keep them
quiet as they style, manicure and dress their clients and depending on
their age, this may be the only negative aspect of the game with the
repetitive nature of the mini-games but when it comes to dress ups and
makeup, who are we to judge anyway? :) |
