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March of the Penguins (DS) Status: Stopped playing - Something better came along I started playing this game on Monday 9 August, 2021 // I stopped playing this game on: Friday 13 August, 2021
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.
August 13, 2021 01:35:40 PM
The other two mini-games I played were a underwater swim around (2D sideview) to eat fish (Chapter 3) while avoiding obstacles (and you have to come up for air) and a slightly more interesting game where you have to navigate a maze to get to a certain location. The general idea is that you can only move in straight lines. In the first variation you are move in straight lines (you launch yourself) to the next spot and then need to decide in which direction to go next - usually you have two choices (or return from whence you came). Some locations will automatically move you along (cannonballing you around). In the 2nd variation you always move and you need to turn in the direction desired at "intersections", sometimes you have to wait for the right moment to move (timing). At first I was annoyed that there was no general sense (e.g. minimap) of where the goal was - but then I realized that's the fun of navigating a maze! The game bills itself as educational but the educational content is pretty tacked on - you get these informational tidbits at the beginning of each chapter and I guess the overall story is educational - but the game (at least the chapters I played) don't integrate any of the educational stuff into the gameplay.... But still...is this really the only videogame based off a documentary movie?
August 12, 2021 06:04:58 PM
I saw the documentary ages ago and this game is, I assume, the official game of the documentary. Already that's an interesting idea/concept. I'm not sure I can think of any other documentary movies that also have a game. I'm also, as I write this, not sure what the timing looks like. It's possible the game came out after the movie was a hit as a sort of cash-in? I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case because the game is pretty bare-bones as is. So, walking into the game blind was a really interesting experience because it was a lot more sophisticated/complex as a game than I imagined while also being really simplistic. The game is divided into chapters you must complete in order and each chapter basically moves the story along in terms of the process the penguins go through as part of their life cycle (get to place, protect egg, females get food, etc.). I'm guessing this tracks the documentary pretty well, but I'm not sure. Each chapter is basically a mini-game. I played 4 and there is some variety - but the first one is wild because it's essentially a Lemmings level! With penguins and they can't die but you can run out of time. Unlike in Lemmings here you just add/take away objects from the environment to help the penguins get to the end. You can place ice steps, an igloo tent (the jump/bounce on it to get higher) and such. It took me a while to find out what the different objects did because the help/guide is tucked away...but it only has a picture and a short description of each thing. Anyways, that's just the first chapter and there are at least two other mini-games! But more later...

March of the Penguins (DS)