E.T. Digital Companion
Score: 60% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: NewKidCo Developer: Powerhead Games Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 Genre: Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: I will tell you right off the bat; this review is going to be very different. I mean, it is pretty hard to review a personal organizer with much detail. So just bear with me and hopefully this review will make some sense eventually. Graphically, Digital Companion is just a bunch of menus. There are a few shots of E.T. thrown in here and there, but for the most part, it's just boxes, letters, and numbers. There are also a few mini-games thrown in, but they are some of the most simplistic graphics I have seen on the GBC. I really could have done without the sound, though. E.T. has one of the best film scores around, but the faster, remixed version of one of the main songs from E.T. is annoying and hard to listen to, especially during the 20 minutes you spend filling in information when you first turn the organizer on.
Gameplay: E.T. - Digital Companion is a novel idea, especially if parents want some help in teaching their kids responsibility. Digital Companion turns the GameBoy into a personal planner and allows kids to keep track of phone numbers, dates, and just about anything else you can think of. It also offers a few mini games to keep kids occupied, like the Bike Escape, the Flopgopple Virtual Pet, and my personal favorite - E.T. movie trivia. These are amusing for about 10 minutes and for the most part, forgettable.
Difficulty: If you know your address, or can tell time, you should have no problem with Digital Companion. The only real problem I had was that there were a few too many questions when you first start up. I can understand the need for a few of them, but saying your favorite food or animal just felt pointless to me. Except for the Trivia game, the mini-games are a breeze.
Game Mechanics: Controlling Digital Companion is as easy as scrolling through menus - which is good since that is all you do. As I said before, E.T. Digital Companion is a good idea if you want to teach your child about responsibility, but as a game, it will not hold a kid's interest for more than a few minutes.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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