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Computer Times
Editors' Choice DS Game Emily the Strange: Strangerous Review by Angie Kibiloski
Many of you may recognize Emily the Strange as the counterculture icon she’s become over the last two decades or so. Beginning in the early 90’s as just an offbeat character on t-shirts, stickers, and other merchandise, she has grown into a popular personality in comic books, and even a full-blown series of novels for teens. Now, with the help of PQube (in the UK) and Tri Synergy (in the US), she makes her way into the video game arena, with the Nintendo DS/DSi title, Emily the Strange: Strangerous (Retail $29.99). True to her alternative roots, Emily is witty, unique, and darkly cool in this new adventure. The game is a really fun puzzle adventure, in which Emily must solve all manner of challenges in order to find and rescue her 4 kidnapped cats. While saving Miles, Mystery, Sabbath, and Nee Chee from a nasty little she-villain, you must also stop her from turning Emily’s entire world pink and fluffy.
The puzzles throughout the game are very unique, and each one presents a different type of problem. Some of them are your standard puzzle styles, like coded sequences or rearranging picture pieces. Others are more like mini-games, and require a little skill, like the carnival shooting game, and critical thinking, like setting traps for different bothersome foes. When you solve a puzzle, not only will you be able to progress in the game, you’ll also be rewarded with cat treats or things called Oddettes, which will allow you to use Emily’s computer. After you have played a mini-game, you can access it through Emily’s Scrapbook, the menu area in the game, and play them anytime you like. You’ll want to do this whenever you get low on cat treats. Once you have Emily’s cats back with her, they will be needed to complete certain tasks. Each cat has its own special skill, like seeing in the dark, climbing to unreachable spots, giving hints on what needs to be done, or hunting down clues. They don’t perform these skills for free however, and you’ll need to give them a cat treat before they will begin. Emily will have to traverse 6 very different parallel worlds, including an alternate version of her own, and play over 60 puzzles to complete the adventure. If you are using a Nintendo DSi, you have a couple extra features to play with. You’ll be able to access a special area with mini-games only playable with a DSi, and use the Zonster Creator, a sort of Frankenstein’s lab feature where you build your own monster from parts you’ve collected. You collect monster parts by scanning special barcodes with your DSi, which you will find scattered throughout your product box and manual.
One of the great things about Emily the Strange, as a character, is her individuality, creativity, and ability to inspire alternatively minded young women to embrace that which makes them unique. With Emily the Strange: Strangerous, girls of all ages can enjoy diving into this strange and wonderful world, and making friends with a girl who is not afraid to be exactly who she is. You’ll enjoy hours and hours of game play, and never get bored with the wide variety of puzzle types. The odd characters you’ll meet in each parallel world will be sometimes helpful and sometimes just an inconvenience, but they will always be entertaining. Most importantly, you’ll have the strangest fun you’ve ever had, with the strong, confident, quirky Emily, and her band of talented cats. To find out more about Emily the Strange, try these links: http://pqube.co.uk and http://emily-game.co.uk.
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