Crayon Shin Chan

Don't let the goofy name throw you; don't let it lead you to assume this is a fun, quirky game, either. I suppose I'm really saying don't expect anything from this mess.

Crayon Shin Chan is, at heart, a collection of mini games; some good, some confusing, some bad, some confusing and bad. Mostly the latter. Having the ability to link up with another human may give this one a little more life between your collective systems. Without the cheap-as-hell computer opponent to deter you, you could even, possibly, grow to love some of these games.

The games on display are some of your favorites: collect various colored balls as they roll down grooves on a roof, shooting spitballs at worms on logs to make them head toward your opponent, and the classic number game that doesn't make any sense that you usually lose. Others include inflating balloons for some reason; a game which you also usually lose. Then there's the music memory game. This is essentially the "which pictures are under which tiles" game everybody played when they were younger, only here turning over a card plays a specific tune. Once your computer opponent figures out ONE match that's pretty much it. Every time I played this game the computer beat me; by a lot. I don't know that I even found a match! Not what I would consider a good time.

Not all of these games are bad, though. The catching balls falling off of a roof game was pretty fun. There's also a game where you throw snowballs at your opponent's snowmen, while he does the same to you. You have to keep re-building your snow warriors while trying to prevent him from re-building his. I had more snowmen left at the end of the round, but I still lost. Still, it was more enjoyable than some of my other losses.

I just don't understand the ridiculous difficulty level here. This is obviously marketed towards a younger demographic. If a seasoned pro like me couldn't win half of these games, I don't expect too many kids to be able to do so. I would avoid this one entirely. I just can't find anything redeeming here.