Bratz: Girls Really Rock Review

I don’t know a whole lot about the Bratz. What I do know involves nothing more than a few t-shirts my daughters have, along with the few big head, attitude having dolls they seem to acquire from family members. So who better to play test Bratz: Girls Really Rock for me then the target audience? My daughters were excited when I showed them the game and it began, but that excitement soon dwindled to frustration.

For the uninitiated, such as myself before I did some research, Bratz are like Barbie’s hipper, edgier cousin. They have been featured in several cartoons, DVDs, and a recent live action movie. They also have released several music CDs. This music and movie theme carries over into the game. The premise behind the game is that the girls are away at summer camp and will be competing in a variety of mini-games in order to appear in a blockbuster movie. Needless to say, the story isn’t important here as my daughters tapped their way through the talking to get on with the game playing.

The game revolves around several mini-games that have your chosen character doing a variety of things. There are rhythm games that have you tapping buttons or moving the Wiimote in time with the music, Mini-golf, fashion design and skydiving. There are also makeup and hairstyling mini games to keep the girls coming back, trying to improve their characters look. While my daughters had fun playing these games at first, they soon became frustrated with the imprecise movement of the Wiimote. Several times my daughters, especially my oldest, made comments about the characters not doing what she wanted them to do. Also, the mini games seem to get really repetitive for them, as they started to groan when it was time for another mini-golf game. They did enjoy dressing the characters up and doing their makeup, but soon even that grew old for them.

The graphics and sound in the game are disappointing as well. While the sound does an adequate job, the Bratz songs soon get repetitive. The graphics are definitely below what the Wii is capable of, and they look somewhat washed out and bland. While my daughters didn’t seem to notice, I definitely did.

After a little over an hour, my daughters decided they had enough and put the game down. I don’t think they have come back to it since, and I can’t say that I blame them. I asked them what they thought about it and my oldest said that she liked it at first, but she got bored with it. She said she didn’t like having to do the same games over and over.

Final Verdict

Bratz: Girls Really Rock tries to cash in on the popularity of the dolls, but fails to do so. From the paper thin story line to the repetitive mini-games, the game just fails to hold its target audience for any substantial length of time. The sound is adequate, if a bit repetitive, but the graphics are washed out and plain. I would avoid this game unless you have a child who loves the Bratz, and I mean REALLY loves the Bratz. There are far better games out there for the Wii for the younger crowd.

Score

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