'Silverlicious' video game hopping with Easter theme - USA TODAY

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'Silverlicious' video game hopping with Easter theme - USA TODAY Apr 8th 2012, 11:00 By Jinny Gudmundsen, Special for USA TODAY Updated Fans of the Pinkalicious books, a picture book series written by Victoria Kann, will be thrilled to see their favorite plucky Pinkalicious Pinkerton as the star in her second video game called Silverlicious. GameMill Entertainment In 'Siverlicious,' kids control Pinkalicious, a beloved literary character, as she collects Easter eggs. GameMill Entertainment In 'Siverlicious,' kids control Pinkalicious, a beloved literary character, as she collects Easter eggs. Based on the book of the same name, Silverlicious reenacts the story of the book, but does so by interspersing 12 fun platform puzzles inside of the plot. When Pinkalicious loses a tooth and candy doesn't taste quite right, she concludes that her lost tooth was her all-important "Sweet Tooth." Panicked, she writes the Tooth Fairy, requesting her help. Hilarity ensues when the busy Tooth Fairy sends Cupid, the Easter Bunny, and a Christmas Elf to help. Carlos Cupid is the first on the scene to help Pinkalicious. He writes her back, leaves some candies called Red Hots, and decorates the town with hearts. The Red Hots burn Pinkalicious' mouth and convince her that she still needs help. Players join in the fun by directing Pinkalicious through her now heart-themed neighborhood, collecting sweets and helping people along the way. The objective of each side-scrolling level is for you to help Pinkalicious to fill her Sweetness Meter so that she can unlock the next level. She does this by collecting sweets and doing favors for others. In the four Cupid levels, most of the sweets are candy hearts, which she collects by simply walking over them. Helping others takes on the form of finding red roses for her mother or delivering a cup of sugar. Next up is Edgar Easter Bunny. He tries to help Pinkalicious by leaving her jelly beans. To let her know he was there, he fills up Pinkville with Easter Eggs. The jelly beans taste terrible, so Pinkalicious still thinks she has a problem. In the next four Easter-themed levels, players direct Pinkalicious to collect colored Easter eggs and do kindnesses such as finding the missing salt and pepper shakers for her dad. Christmas Elf #351 arrives next. He brings snowy Christmas decorations and presents Pinkalicious with two candy canes that she thinks taste like toothpaste. For the four Christmas-themed levels, players collect gingerbread cookies and help by doing tasks like finding a carrot so a friend can finish building a snowman. In the end, Tootheetina, the Tooth Fairy, finally shows up to help Pinkalicious to discover that sweetness isn't related to a specific tooth, but that it comes from within. Designed for young girls who are new to playing games on the Nintendo DS, Silverlicious does a great job of easing players into the gameplay. The tutorial explains how you use the multi-directional control pad to move Pinkalicious in a specific direction and that pushing the "A" button makes her jump. The "B" button activates Pinkalicious' fairy wand to open boxes, eggs and stockings and to disable grumpy clouds that float into her path. The "X" button allows players to dress Pinkalicious in three different costumes. Changing outfits is actually an important game mechanic and one that kids need to think about. Each of the three costumes comes with a special power, which you activate by using the "Y" button. One costume lets Pinkalicious slide under short obstacles and over gaps. Another gives her the ability to twirl very high up in the air and land on platforms that would otherwise be unreachable while wearing the other outfits. The remaining costume puts a hard hat on her head so that she can head-butt obstacles and avoid getting injured by failing objects. Much of the gameplay revolves around using logic to switch costumes when needed. Young girls will need to be able to read or have their parents read the story to them since Pinkalicious does very little talking. The gameplay also requires players to push two buttons at once — one to move while the other to jump — a skill that many 5-year olds find difficult. For girls who have the hand-eye coordination necessary to play this game, it is a fun and sweet adventure filled with positive messages about the importance of helping others. It does a great job of easing players into learning how to navigate levels that slowly get harder. At first, you just have to move sideways while pushing the jump button; but by the end, you will have learned how to time a jump so that you land on a moving platform. Also fun are the special bells and whistles that the developers sprinkled inside of the game. At various points, you will encounter fanciful things like lollipops which create wind currents to send you on a flying candy ride. It's unexpected and so fanciful that it makes you smile. — Silverlicious Score: 3.5 (out of 4) Rating: E Best for ages: 6-8 Publisher: GameMill Entertainment, www.game-mill.com Platform: Nintendo DS Cost: $19.99 — Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine (www.ComputingwithKids.com). Contact her at techcomments@usatoday.com. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. 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