The Cheetah Girls movie came out on the Disney Channel several years ago, about the time Raven Symone was starting the series “That’s So Raven.” It matched four teen girls, each with plenty of differences, but bound together by strong friendship, and they made great music together. Raven played one of the girls, Galleria.A new Cheetah Girls movie is due this August, starring the same four actresses, and Buena Vista is releasing this game at the same time. Matching the movie, it chronicles the girls’ efforts to get better and better gigs to showcase their abilities. Their ultimate goal is a competition in Barcelona, Spain. In the game, you play all four girls as each contributes to the cause. For example, Dorinda (the blonde) teaches kids in a dance studio. Galleria writes songs, Aqua flips barbeque and Chanel works in a fashion store. (No, this doesn’t make total sense to me, either. I trust the actual game will explain it all.)
As the game progresses, you earn stars and hearts. The more stars you have, the better the gigs you can accept and the greater your expertise with (for example) stage lighting options. The more hearts you have, the better equipment and special effects you can afford.
You’ve got to complete 14 gigs to qualify for Barcelona. You have a helper when you get stuck — Galleria’s cute bichon frise, Toto. (Yes, that’s a dog. Yes, the dog helps you, sometimes even barking a sequence of notes as you attempt to create music. Yes, I want to see how that works out, as well.)
Two of the individual activities are worth a special note. Playing as Galleria, you write music for the group. Playing as Dorinda, you choreograph moves for the group. This isn’t just thumbing a button to fulfill an objective. You are actually involved in the creative process yourself, which takes this part of the game a step beyond most other games, of any sort.
The Cheetah Girls takes a step beyond in another way, as well. Most games, especially games for kids and tweens, have some sort of positive message at least loosely associated with your objective — standing up for who you are, friendship and perseverance are all common themes. However, this game has thoroughly embraced these inspirational messages, along with a tween version of the old Army motto, “Be all that you can be!” It’s hard to imagine The Cheetah Girls as edutainment, but if the designers achieve their goal, this has a good chance of improving its tween targets’ perspective on both themselves and the world.
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.
