Hannah is one of the Disney Channels newest stars. Malibu high schooler Miley Stewart by day, she becomes pop star Hannah Montana after hours. Her blonde wig keeps everyone in the dark, sort of like Clark Kent’s glasses.Hannah’s problem in this game is that someone is threatening to reveal her dual identities. She’s got to figure out who’s making the threats, and how to stop them.
The search takes her to several locations in Malibu (carefully designed to match locations in the television series). The game is still in its early stages, but it appears to have more investigating and less twitched-based action than other games of its type. Hannah’s got a magnifying glass to help her find hidden objects, and a flashlight to find things in the dark. You’ve got to pay attention to conversations, because some of them contain clues. This all sounds more interesting to me, but I’m not even close to the target demographic. Let’s hope that the tweens who play this game find it just as interesting.
Hannah’s best friend, Lily, has her own series of mini-games in which she skates, rollerblades, and skateboards through her appointed tasks. (You’ve got to keep the road clear so she doesn’t take a nosedive.) I didn’t find out about any other mini-games, but it seems that Hannah has an enormous wardrobe — as befits a pop star — and you always have time to stop and try on a few new outfits.
Hannah suffers from the same game-design drawback as the That's So Raven game. They both live relatively normal lives (well, compared to superspies, their lives are normal). That means that there are many fewer oportunities for rock-‘em, sock-‘em action than in (for instance) a Kim Possible game, which in turn means that designers have to create other action, just as compelling, but without killing anyone.
I certainly applaud the designers’ efforts to give Hannah enough to do without hijacking a car or kicking the head off a ninja. And I hope they do it well enough that players will want to spend a few hours with Hannah.
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.
