Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure Compare Prices

Game Review & Description: Theme parks bring out the kid in all of us, so a game based on the magical Hollywood experience of Universal Studios should have you cracking open the candyfloss in anticipation. Unfortunately Kemco, the makers of Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure, have opted for all the frustrations--long walks, long queues, overflowing with rubbish--and none of the fun of the fair. Firstly, this isn't really a game; it's an interactive studio tour with some mini-games thrown in. You're let loose in the park with a map and basically have to find the eight "rides", play each one's mini-game, earn a stamp and some points, swap the points for some merchandising tat and that's it. Oh no, sorry, that's not it: you also have to pick up rubbish that other visitors have dropped (for extra points) and shake hands with people dressed in huge animal costumes. The first problem is finding the rides; the map is worse than useless and you spend a lot of time running back and forth between the dull backgrounds with only your community service as bin man to alleviate the boredom. Once you find a ride you often find that the queue is too long and you need a special cap to get access--but frankly don't bother as the "games" are at best mediocre and at worst tedious and overlong. The Waterworld ride, for example, basically just rewards you with the opportunity to see a plane crash-land in a pool from (drum roll please) five different angles. The second problem is that you can't really see who this is aimed at. Kids will find it too frustrating--one of the mini-games in particular is a film quiz with such questions as "who directed The Thing?", and since when has John Carpenter been suitable viewing for pre-teens? Adults will find it duller than a seaside pier on a wet weekend. Top it off with poor graphics, banal sound and less longevity than a Eurovision song, and you have what is probably one of the worst "games" on the platform. --Kristen Bowditch