Here on VDZE Media we rarely review kids games, but when a press release about a Gigantosaurus game dropped into my inbox it immediately got my attention. I can’t even count how many times I have read the Jonny Duddle book to my now five year old boy over the last few years. Before becoming a game, the book was also adapted into a TV series which began airing on Disney Junior just over a year ago.
Gigantosaurus: The Game is a basic platformer. Now that may sound like a negative, but in this instance it isn’t. Outright Games knows it’s audience here, and that is young fans who are relatively new to the world of gaming. Each of the four main characters has different abilities that are required to navigate around the world, while items found along the way will also aid you in your quest. Jump further, spring higher and more! Everything is well designed and accessible for young minds.
While navigating the world you will be tasked with finding four different types of collectibles. Eggs, storybooks, seeds and acorns. Returning four of the ten available eggs will unlock the next level. Personally, this left me with little motivation to continue on and find the rest, especially given Nintendo still haven’t implemented any sort of trophy/achievement system. However watching my son soldier on, collecting everything he could get his hands on reminded me that if you connect with the source material, these things don’t matter. And he certainly didn’t need any extra incentive to swallow up as much content as he could.
Graphically the game stays true to the TV show without ever excelling. Performance on the Switch is solid and I didn’t have any issues with frame rate drops or crashing. Disappointingly none of the four main characters are voiced and instead we get the odd bit of narration. However the overall presentation is good. This does not feel like a quick licenced cash in and my boy was amazed to see a world he has been immersed in for some time come to life.
While the bulk of the game focuses on platforming as I said, there is also some kart racing to enjoy as well, complete with Mario Kart style power ups. Don’t expect this to challenge any of the top kart racers on the market for your time, but it was a nice inclusion and again acted as a good introduction to the genre for kids.
Games like this are designed to inspire and spark imagination among children and it did just that for mine. It wasn’t long before my boy was digging around in his cupboard for dinosaur dress-up gear with his little sister close behind. Fast forward half an hour and my partner has them in a photoshoot that is then edited and put on Instagram.
Overall Gigantosaurus: The Game is something that is likely to appeal to gamers aged seven and below. If you have a youngster that is just starting to dabble in computers this is the best entry level title I have seen since Paw Patrol: On A Roll and it comes packing much more content. It is also available on PS4, Xbox One and Steam, but the Nintendo Switch is the perfect way to pick up and play in short chunks.
-VDZE
A review code for this product was kindly provided by the publisher. Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.
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