Dood’s Big Adventure is a game that harnesses the power of a child’s creativity and the function of the uDraw GameTablet. The game is a platforming game and allows the customization of the protagonist, Dood, as well as the Baddies. There are also the obstacles and traps known as Doodads that can be colored and Balloonimals — balloon animals hovering in the background that animate when customized.

There are four game modes, each with 60 levels. They are Pen Panic, Roly Poly, Bubble Trouble and Fan Frenzy. Each game uses the uDraw GameTablet in different ways, with Pen Panic having the most controls and accordingly, the most difficult, so I wondered that it was not lower down the list. All were platforming games. This means there was a course to run through, obstacles to avoid, coins to collect and baddies to avoid or beat up — complete with cartoon rendition of stars and whirls when they were.

In Pen Panic, players lead with the stylus to move Dood, draw a line through him to create a trampoline to bounce him from platform to platform and flicked ink with the pen to beat up Baddies and break walls.

In Roly Poly, the stylus was put away, and players tilt the entire uDraw GameTablet (enabled with Wii-mote) to roll a ball-shaped Dood around, pressing the Wii-mote trigger to bounce Dood and pound on Baddies.

Bubble Trouble was Dood in a soap bubble being pushed around with the stylus. Any encounters with Baddies and objects or walls, the bubble popped. Luckily, this is a kid’s game, and the bubble reforms about right where it got popped or before a section. Clicking the thumb button attacked the Baddies.

Dood blew himself up like a balloon in Fan Frenzy, and using the Stylus, you blew him around obstacles. Press harder, and the fan blew faster and harder. Baddies were whacked by using the fan blades.

The Trial

First things first, customizing the characters. Although you can have three different Doods, this is really a single-player game as the points earned and levels unlocked are cumulative. My niece allowed, with some prompting, her visiting friend to go first, as she would have the time to play the game, whereas her friend was only here for an afternoon. With fond parents watching and visiting in the background, she colored her Dood. Using the stylus to select media, colors and stamps, she colored the front of her Dood and saved. Her Dood began to dance and spun around, making everyone, including her, laugh as they realized it was a 3-D figure. Paradigm shift took place, and she colored the rest of him, clicking and dragging to see him from all sides and all angles.

There are skins to use and a number of skins that are unlocked by playing the game, but both girls (ages 8 and 9) chose to color their Dood. After playing through Bubble Trouble and Roly Poly, they decided to color the Baddies, which come with default skins, and the Balloonimals. They were more excited about the games once they found their colored characters, Doodads and Balloonimals appeared in the games. The Balloonimals were even animated.

Reviewer Opinion

Dood’s Big Adventure is one of those games that makes innovative use of the Wii-mote’s motion-sensing controller. All four game modes are unique and quite different from each other, and the artwork of the levels is bright, colorful and fun for little kids. The use of coloring actually attracted these two girls to play the game, as games of this genre were usually a “pass” for them. They just don’t like platforming games. Bringing characters to life is tremendously engaging, and the unique use of the uDraw GameTablet and the innovative controls of each game mode had them each declaring a favorite. My 8-year-old niece liked Roly Poly, and her 9-year-old friend liked Bubble Frenzy. Pen Panic was a little too tough. Unlocking skins? Pass. They’d rather recolor Dood.

If you purchased the uDraw GameTablet and are wondering if there are other games out there for it, Dood’s Big Adventure is a must-buy piece of software to accompany it.