Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends is a Cartoon Network series. The home itself is just as described — a place where imaginary friends live when not spending time with their real-life creators. The home is full of really weird creatures and really weird architecture.Mac (a boy) is best buds with Bloo (a blue, ghost-like creature bearing a strong resemblance to a PacMan ghost, except he smiles a lot). Most of their adventures take place in the home, but they occasionally venture out beyond the front door.
The game plays through ten or fifteen episodes in the series. You switch between Mac and Bloo, depending on what needs to be done next. You can talk to the other residents, most of whom are familiar to those who know the series. It’s a traditional 2D side-scroller.
In the episode I watched and played, Bloo has let the Scribbles out, and he’s got to catch them with paper wads. When it becomes Mac’s turn, he uses a slingshot. The graphics are faithful to the original series. I couldn’t tell you what the soundtrack was like, because E3 is just so … loud.
It looks like the designers have done a good job matching the level of gameplay to the age of kids who watch the series, about eight to twelve years old.
There doesn’t seem to be much depth to the game, but that is a good reflection of the series itself. There’s a lesson/moral included in each episode (for example, in this episode, it’s the fact that your actions have consequences), but it seems that the focus is much more on the side-scrolling and shooting, rather than the lessons and morals.
David, the dad: Got my start in gaming with Steve Jackson Games (paper gaming), first as a tester, then as a developer and editor. Was GURPS and Car Wars system guru for awhile, then edited and developed for TSR (AD&D) and FASA (Mech Warrior, Renegade Legion), before turning to computer games. Spent six years as Origin Systems Publications Manager, then our department spun off into its own little company, Incan Monkey God Studios (IMGS). Since 1997, we’ve been a freelance content and design house, specializing in strategy guides. We created the first strategy guides for MOGs (Ultima Online, EQ: Ruins of Kunark) and now create the best MOG guides (IMHO, of course).
I like to analyze and optimize while playing games, so I much prefer games that require thought rather than action.
Evie is twelve years old and is an avid reader, especially of fantasy. Favorite authors include J.K. Rowling (of course), Brian Jacques, Cornelia Funke and Tamora Pierce. These reviews are her first published writing.
Will is nine years old and loves to investigate, especially dinosaurs and astronomy. These reviews are also his first published writing.
Jesse is seven years old and has just started reading chapter books. He likes Hank the Cowdog and cartoon books, especially Calvin & Hobbes, Baby Blues and Donald Duck.
If you're interested in the (roughly) thousand-year-old triceratops stone in our pic, check out the Dino Art. Some of the accompanying text can be a bit strident, but it's still a puzzle why Central and South American Indians knew pretty precisely what dinosaurs looked like over a thousand years ago.
