I started out not knowing much about Sky Dancers, so I decided to do a little online research. From what I understand, the original story is about the adventures of some teenage ballerinas that are magically changed into sky dancing superheroes by Queen Skyla in order for them to protect the Wingdom. It appears that the original cartoon series ran in 1996-1997. Just as a historical footnote, flying Sky Dancer dolls came out in 2000, and became the source of a major recall. Apparently the little dolls were launched with such speed that they turned into cute little dancing projectiles and some 150 children were injured. Ouch. In 2005, eight of the original Sky Dancer episodes were re-released on DVD. In Fall of 2005, the Sky Dancers game was also released. Even though the original cartoons came out just over a decade ago, they were obviously engaging enough to merit the reintroduction to the popular culture. I was even able to find a Sky Dancer fan fiction site with writings as recent as this year.Sky Dancers is a game aimed firmly at the ‘young girl gamer’ demographic. There are three young Sky Dancers in the opening screen of the game. They have different hair styles and hair colors and, of course, different outfits. The ballerina origins of the girls are evoked by the leg warmers and delicately pointed feet.
My initial choices are Play, Password, Trade, Mini Games and Options. Rather than using save games, Sky Dancers has a password system to record progress. I personally prefer save games. I hate having to keep track of little slips of paper with passwords written on them. I image the process could be even more problematic for a younger child. To me, eight random characters is a lot for a child to write down accurately.
I know that you can unlock hairstyles and outfits during game play. I’m guessing the Trade function lets girls exchange items with friends but I don’t have someone else around me with the game, so I don’t know.
There are three mini games that can be unlocked – one for each of the Sky Dancers.
I think I’m about to use the Options right now. You can toggle SFX and music on or off. The music has got to go. The same little clip of music keeps playing, and then an electronic voice says “Sky Dancers”, and then it repeats. I easily exercise my music off option and am rewarded with blissful silence. Yay!
There is a large block of introductory text to the game. Even if you have never seen the original series, it does give you some general background of what you’re trying to do. If you’ve seen the text before, the game designers have kindly given you the option of pressing the Start button to skip future readings. Other than this introductory text, there was no real tutorial to explain the game controls or your objectives. I’m told that my first Sky Dancer has the ability to stop time, and that I should use it sparingly, but it never tells me how exactly to do that.
As I proceed through the initial level of the game, I seem to be getting points for collecting blue gems and little fairies. The red stars restore a small amount of health. So far I’m using the arrow keys to move and the A key to jump. I’m jumping over enemies as best I can. If I have an offensive ability, I haven’t discovered it yet. Along with spiders, snakes, frogs, bats and angry little gnomes as hazards, apparently it’s also possible to fall off the bottom of the screen. Ouch again. While navigating the level I did find a small green disk. It seems that collecting this disk is what enables my special time stop ability. There was a little L in the middle of my icon, so I pressed the Left button. I’m not sure if pressing the button triggered the ability or if it was running from the time I collected the disk. There weren’t any enemies immediately on screen as I got the disk in the first place. When I moved back into the main playing area, I found a snake standing there, frozen in place. Okay, time stop ability. Gotcha.
Sky Dancers will probably appeal to the dedicated fan of the show. I’m not sure how long Sky Dancers would hold the attention of the fickle ‘tween that doesn’t have any experience with the show. I think it’s probably too difficult for a younger child to make much progress. Unless someone is standing over them recording passwords, they will be starting over from the beginning of the game every time. Hairstyles and outfits alone are not going to win the heart of the dedicated girl gamer. You need a solid game with a good mix of fun and challenge, just like for the dedicated boy gamer.
I’m a working mom – married with one child. My daughter is 7 and she has autism. Everything else in my life moves around this core. Online gaming has been a big part of my social life over the last several years due to the difficulty of going out and about. I have to say that my daughter Alissa is awesome at computer games. She has skills with electronics that amaze me. When I get away from the computer, I like doing craft projects (knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting, quilling, whatever sounds fun) and reading. I mainly read suspense these days but I have a pretty eclectic collection and a library of about 6000 books. I’ve been using a computer since grade school – I started with an Apple IIe and have upgraded considerably and many times since then. I played Dungeons and Dragons for at least a few decades. I met and married my husband through gaming. He was my DM. I stopped tabletop gaming more from lack of time than anything. It’s easier to meet and game with friends online than it is to coordinate real life schedules around my daughter’s needs.
