Title: Shaun the Sheep
Price: $29.99
System(s): Nintendo DS
Release Date: September 23, 2008
Publisher (Developer): D3 Publisher (Art)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief
Pros: Good game for kids. Mini-games are moderately challenging. A few nice extras. Decent graphics.
Cons: Mini-game graphics can be subpar at times. The story mode is a bit short.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; *** out of 5
Shaun the Sheep is a children’s game based on the stop-motion animated series by Aardman Animations, the same people who brought us Wallace and Gromit. (Shaun first appeared in the Wallace and Gromit movie A Close Shave). The original series follows Shaun, a smart little sheep, engaging in short, seven minute, silent comedic episodes on a farm.
The game stays true to the original formula and, as such, perfectly reaches its target audience. It is a simple yet engaging adventure that children will likely enjoy. It possesses all the characters from the series and cute little mini-games. In fact, you can think of Shaun the Sheep as My First Point-and-Click Adventure.
Shaun the Sheepherder
The game begins with the Farmer leaving the farm for the day. Shaun and Bitzer the dog are talking when all of the sheep suddenly escape. Shaun has to find all 13 missing sheep before the Farmer gets back so Bitzer won’t get in trouble. (He also can help Mother Hen find all 12 of her chicks.)
Shaun’ll have to find items to get past seemingly impossible obstacles, team up with found sheep, conquer mini-games and search everywhere to find the rest of the flock. He’ll have to be careful though, because Naughty Pigs, Pidsley and Mole are all around to make things difficult for him.
Not Baad for a Kid’s Game
Shaun the Sheep succeeds at introducing young gamers to the point-and-click gaming genre while including in a few cute mini-games to break up potential monotony. The main story is just challenging enough to get kids interested but provides plenty of hints so kids won’t get lost. If things seem unclear, a visit to Bitzer or the barn will clear things up. Or, Mower Mouth will suddenly show up to unlock a new area for Shaun to search in.
The graphics range from surprisingly good to shovelware bad. The graphics for the story mode of the game, where you’re Shaun exploring the farm, for example, are quite good. The characters look almost exactly like their Aardman Animations counterparts, and everything moves smoothly. The same can’t be said for some of the mini-games (specifically the ones where Shaun rolls a ball of yarn, jumps on a trampoline to reach little Timmy or plays guitar). These often use static, stock images from the Shaun the Sheep animated series and recycle them for the games. It’s disappointing.
It also is a bit short but that might not be a bad thing in this case. Shaun the Sheep‘s target audience are clearly young children and, if the game were too long or complicated, it might frustrate them or turn them off. So it’s short for people over the age of eight but perfect for those who are younger.
Remember, It’s for Kids
You can’t go in to Shaun the Sheep expecting an adventure and challenge like one found in, say, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Awesome People>. This isn’t a point-and-click adventure for adults, it is one for kids. And it succeeds at what it tries to do - it makes the genre more accessible for younger gamers.
Shaun the Sheep is cute, and a great game for a beginning gamer.
Site [Shaun the Sheep the game]
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