The adorable panda bear, Lola, is back at it again. This time she's putting her life as a train conductor in the past, and is instead throwing a party...of knowledge. Being the second game in the series to focus on basic ABC's and spelling, following Lola's Alphabet Train on DSiWare back in 2012, does this educational celebration deserve the attendance of your children — or is Lola too unbearable to be worthy of company?
Showing at Lola's house on the day of her party, she requests your assistance with three tasks before the rest of the guests arrive. There’s an empty bowl waiting to be filled with mounds of ice cream, undecorated cakes primed for toppings, and a line-up of various balloons awaiting their helium injection. With the stylus, just tap any of these objects in the scene and off you go.
Instead of diving right into the selected task, Lola suggests that you partake in ABC mini-games while you wait. The focus of these ranges from light spelling, letter recognition, differentiating lower and upper case letters, and even memory. All are of a very similar “tap this” or “drag that” format, ensuring immediate accessibility; as kids progress and their performance improves, the challenges gradually increase in difficulty.
Once a set of mini-games has been completed, the tasks you initially opted into are then presented as a reward, of sorts. These are little interactive scenes that have no right or wrong answer, but instead allow children to fool around and exercise a little creativity. Blowing up balloons is a simple matter of dragging desired balloons to the helium pump, holding down the lever, and then replacing with the next in line. Populating the cake and ice cream with candles and toppings functions in the same manner, and is equally simple to get into. We have to question the long-term appeal of these rewards considering there are only three of them, each with limited interactions, but regardless, they should do their job up front.
Returning from previous instalments, the actress that voices Lola — once again — does a great job. Her presence is soothing and inviting, which young children should find comforting. There are a couple of situations that we felt could've benefited from slightly more descriptive instructions, but it's a minor oversight that shouldn't lead to any boo-boos. Keep in mind, the game is aimed at children 3-7, so you may need to assist them to a degree as they're getting started, anyway.
If there's a reason you should hesitate attending Lola's ABC Party, it's that this is pretty much the same game as Lola's Alphabet Train. Sure, the setting is different, but the learning activities are of the exact same nature. If your children haven't made friends with Lola just yet, this is something we can recommend without a doubt. However, if you still have Alphabet Train downloaded on your DS or 3DS, you may find this to be a pointless purchase.
Conclusion
Once again, Lola has showed up to offer a solid learning tool for children just getting familiarized with the alphabet. Sporting colourful and friendly visuals, great voice talent and accessible learning exercises, Lola's ABC Party is a pretty happening place to be for kids ages 3-7. There are minor concerns that we've highlighted in this review — similarity to previous instalments and lasting appeal, mostly — but these shouldn't stand between your child and what we think is an educational experience that will yield results.
Comments 13
Oh what's this, a ABC game getting more than a 4? Oh my gawd!
@BarbieGurl777 You like this game, don't you?
So, this game is better than Yoshi's New Island? I'm going to lie down now.
@Scary_Old_Lady You're taking the scoring system out of context, something that Nintendo Life strongly advises against.
@Scary_Old_Lady No surprises there i guess. Same demographic but it seems ABC Party did it a little bit better.
@ShanaUnite wins all there ever was to win.
@GamerOZO she already posted several screenshots on miiverse ^^
would u suggest this game to a 15 year-old
@justlink
I would guess (with no mean intention) that this game is good enough for everyone who wants to learn or practice what they have learned about reading, no matter the age.
There should be games made for adult illiteracy. But then the world might be too cruel if such games were to be promoted.
Well...some gaming company has to claim these learning games, and who's better than to ask Nintendo who've been experiencing them for more than 30 years. It seems that Sony has shied away from kid games. I remember they had kid learning games with the PS1 and PS2 eras.
@Barbiegurl777: You would buy this. It says from ages 3-7. Seriously? How old are you? shakes head repeatedly
@KnightRider666
Seriously? I want to shake my head repeatedly at your comment. Not everyone has the same taste in games. Learn to respect that. Geez.
@KnightRider666: i had been going to remove your comment with a warning to refrain from insults, but Barbiegurl made her point so eloquently i'm inclined to leave things be just so that her reply to you can stay as well. Next time, please keep any snide comments you may have about another user's choice in games to yourself. In no way does her choice to play a game you wouldn't personally choose have any impact on your life. Remember, it takes all kinds of people to make the world go 'round!
@Barbiegurl777: keep playin' what you love :3
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