Bratz Glitz 'N' Glamour

The Good
This is a well put together title.

Graphics: The graphics are done well. The Bratz move well, dance well, and look pretty good even in close up. I don't recall seeing any jagged edged or stuttering.

Audio: The songs sound good and are quite catchy without being memorable

Story: There are supposed to be eight storylines in this title. I played two or three and they seemed pretty similar - more a way to string together the activities than a 'proper' story.

Educational value: It's not obvious but there is an underlying 'girl power' message in this title which surprised me especially as I find the characters, with their preoccupation of fashion and shopping, to be vacuous and inane. The phone in bit gives advice on topics such as boys, what to do when you're not that confident, fashion on a budget etc. It's 'agony aunt' stuff and it's not in any great depth but it's there and it adds to the title. Similarly the make-over section gives advice on how to use make-up to achieve the Bratz look and, again, that's just a little bit different.

The Bad
The downside for me are the characters and the game's content. Now I am NOT part the game's target audience, I'd even go so far as to say that I am probably as far away from the target audience as it's possible to get, so it's understandable that I HATE the Bratz. Their inane chatter where everything is "totally cool, awesome and totally fabulous" really annoyed me - just as it does in real life.

However my real problem is with the game's content. There is far too little user interaction. Playing through the main storyline there are very few places where the player has to make a decision and they don't seem to affect the story greatly. A good example of this is the make-over section where the player chooses between two hair styles and two kinds of make-up and that's it.

The Bottom Line
There were times when I was playing this game where i forgot I was playing a DVD game. It's so well done that it felt like a PC game and this may be why I expected so much more.

Overall I'd say that this was probably for younger Bratz fans, that it would probably keep them amused for an afternoon but I don't see it being replayed that often