Nintendo DS Game Review: Pinkalicious

Posted by Jeff on November 14, 2011 at 4:54 pm

PINKALICIOUS It’s Party Time for Nintendo DS
by Cooper McHatton

Pinkalicious It’s Party Time lives up to its name.

This is a party in a DS designed perfectly with little girls in mind. Fans of the popular, best-selling books by Victoria Kann, will be giddy to have Pinkalicious on their DS, but any young girl who loves a good pink party will be tickled pink with this game.

The game begins, as many in this genre do, by asking for a first name. Pinkalicious adds a nice twist to this formula by attaching a licious suffix, making you immediately feel like a real Pinkalicious character. A nicelicious touch. You continue into a world of all things pink by customizing an avatar, with plenty of choices in the hair, clothing, and accessories categories. Don’t fret if you wanna swap wardrobes midstream, a helpful feature allows players to make alterations to their avatar’s look as often as her little heart desires. This is an outstanding feature for little ladies who fancy a game of dress-up.

The idea of the Pinkalicious DS game is that you’ve been given the task of throwing wonderful parties for Pinkalicious and all of her friends. Just as any party planner worth her weight in pixie dust knows, there’s a lot of detail that goes into planning a fab shindig. This is doubly true for a perfect Pinkalicious party. There are many types of parties, themes, and seasons that are cycled through and once you click on the party, your theme is selected and you begin. Pinkalicious and her family will talk about the party and you’ll be given a checklist. As you accomplish tasks, the items will be checked off your to-do list.

Right from the start, you are customizing invitations by choosing colors and adding stickers, and then delivering them to lucky friends in town who you’ve chosen to invite. You’ll go into the adorable town of Pinkville to explore party-helpful establishments like a Stationery Store, Bakery, Ice Cream Parlor, and Florist. At these stores Pinkalicious will provide instructions on what to do. Note: this part of the game requires reading, as there is a lot of text and no voiceovers.

Pinkalicious It’s Party Time keeps young gamers busy visiting the shops and preparing for the celebration. At the florist you’ll arrange flowers and blow up balloons, at the bakery you’ll whip up cookies, cupcakes, and chocolate shaped lollypops. You make ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor, and gift bags for your guests at the Stationery Shop. The one drawback while you’re planning your party is if you change your mind on any of these options, you can’t go back to select another one.

Now it’s time to decorate with a variety of objects and get ready to welcome party attendees. After your guests arrive you’ll check on them and ensure they’re in good spirits and having a, well, Pinkalicious time! Once you’ve completed a party you can go back and replay your favorites over and over, even changing the outcome. This makes for nice replay value.

Pressed for time in the doctor’s office waiting room and not able to coordinate an entire party soup-to-nuts? No worries. Another feature of Pinkalicious It’s Party Time is the mini-game option that allows players to do all of the individual tasks (designing invitations, baking cupcakes, arranging flowers, etc.) as stand alone activities. The 17 customizable characters will keep Pinkalicious fans captivated while they’re designing their favorite Pinkalicious characters as well as their own friends and family members.

Pinkalicious It’s Party Time is rated E for everyone, but the obvious target would be young girls ages 4-10 (remembering of course, that younger players will need help with the reading).