Disney's Little Einsteins Review - Game Boy Advance

Disney’s Little Einsteins, the groundbreaking animated series for preschoolers, makes its premiere on the Game Boy Advance, bringing artistic and musical adventures to the handheld system. Developed out of Disney's Baby Einsteins offshoot, Little Einsteins focuses on interactive learning. In the game and series children participate in adventures with Quincy, June, Annie, and Leo, along with their "living" ship Rocket. Each mission involves a different musical and artistic piece which helps the gang solve a problem.

The Good

• Well crafted re-creation of the TV series. Each mission follows the same structure as the show.
• Easy controls for preschoolers.
• Each level is fully unlocked so you can jump directly to any point in the game.
• Teaches about historical art and music, plus builds self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment.
• Helpful Parent’s Guide in the manual.

The Bad

• Erroneous Rating - This is very much an EC - Early Childhood game, but it has been rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.
• Some levels are repetitive.
• Individual personalities of the characters from the series are lost in translation.
• None of the secondary characters from the show appear in the game. “Where's Big Jet?”
• Limited animation and stiff movement.

Story

The Little Einstein gang needs your help to hunt down missing items in scavenger hunt style missions. To do this you must help launch Rocket and go inside classic paintings that open up into landscapes where each item has been lost.

Features

• Seven missions split into twenty one levels.
• Varying styles of gameplay throughout each mission.
• Interactive learning for preschoolers.

The Game

It’s hard to describe Little Einsteins as a game because it’s more like interactive software. Intended for extremely young gamers, the controls have been kept simple and you cannot fail or lose at any of the levels, making it an ideal first time game for preschoolers. Unfortunately the ESRB didn’t think so, assigning it an E for Everyone, which is too old of an age rating for this title. Many aspects of the game are an extension of the television show where interactivity is key. You still have to “pat”, by pressing the “A” button, to help Rocket launch. As for art appreciation, since each mission takes place inside a classic painting, the artwork is actually dissected into its various elements. By breaking down the piece and then showing the entire painting, it helps youngsters visualize the elements of that which makes the piece of artwork a whole. Music is covered as instruments and classical compositions, which are key to completing each level, as well as teaching the convention of musical notes, the sound different instruments make and the most famous portions of the classical pieces. The artwork and music are crafted as best as the GBA mechanics will allow, however the graphics and animation are stiff and limited. The gameplay doesn’t demand any sort of extensive movement, but it’s a shame that the television program’s unique animation style wasn’t utilized better in the game. This partially contributes to the loss of character’s individual personalities. On the show, the Little Einsteins each have a unique characterization, but on the GBA they are all generic.

Parents Tips

Typically I agree with most ratings assigned by the ESRB, however I think they missed the mark on this one. Instead of giving the appropriate rating of EC - Early Childhood, this title was assigned an E for Everyone. Little Einsteins is for preschool age kids and the game was designed with them in mind. It contains no peril or violence, cartoon-style or otherwise, nor does it contain any questionable content. E for Everyone games are for ages six and older, all of whom would find the game far too simple, but give it to an EC – Early Childhood audience (age three to five) and you’ve got yourself a winner. In addition to learning about art and music, Little Einsteins also teaches confidence. It is not about beating the game or conquering an opponent, it’s about accomplishments. Because the game is musically oriented, children who are deaf or hard of hearing will not be able to play, which is also the case with the television series.

Trivia

Each of the Little Einsteins gang are named after real life icons; Quincy Jones (Quincy), Nam June Paik (June), Leonardo da Vinci (Leo) and Annie Oakley (Annie).