I'll be honest. I don't know much about kids, and I tend to assume that if you just leave them a can of some meat paste, something to poop in, and a cardboard box to mess around in they'll be fine. (Or is that cats?... eh!) But it doesn't take a parental dynamo to recognise that Jimp and Gary Smith's utterly adorable kid-oriented game Teddy's Excellent Adventure is something children would presumably enjoy. Part platform, part puzzle, and even a little point-and-click adventure-sy, it tells the story of a teddy bear trying to find his way back home to the little girl who lost him. Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move and jump, and the mouse to click and interact with certain objects. If Teddy falls off a platform, he'll have to start over at the last screen he entered, but you'll also have to solve little puzzles in different areas by figuring out what to click and in what order.
It goes without saying that this is, by and large, a fairly easy game. A few of the later areas require a smidgen of platforming skills, but by and large this is simply a quick, colourful game meant to engage the young or young at heart. A few of the areas have some scenes and action that might be a little intense for really little'uns, and bigguns might be mildly annoyed at the way you have to keep moving with moving platforms or they'll slip right out beneath you. But with its sweet story, gorgeous cartoon and fabric style, and accessible gameplay, Teddy's Excellent Adventure is a warm and cuddly little treat that is just the right size for itty-bitty gamers to grasp, and for bigger ones to relax with while it lasts.
As a parent, this is a no-go for the teddy bear set.
The controls are ridiculously unresponsive, especially in the flight sequence, resulting in a lot of frustration and bandaids for Teddy.
There are several scenes in which the timing has to be fairly precise -- too precise for the age group this is aimed for, and too childish a theme for those old enough to have the coordination to get all the jumps and buttons triggered at the right time.
Adorable graphics and nice theme....but unfortunately mechanically far too difficult for the kids it's designed for.
I don't know about it being a 'kids' game, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Nice and cute graphics, good control mechanics, sweet music. Kind of a hybrid between a platformer and interacting with the environment. My only gripe is that it gets laggy a lot. Would love to see more of these types of games.
I have to agree with JustMe. Playing Teddy, I got hurt far too many times, and I'm an adult with (supposedly) better 'coordination' skills than a child. I also thought that the travels Teddy took became a bit redundant, but maybe they are always designed that way for children, to keep them interested? Sweet graphics and great music!
What they said, plus: trackpad unfriendly, and respawning all the way back at the start of the level is not good for kids.
Cute graphics, though!
I hardly ever give anything less than four mushrooms, but I only gave this one two. I don't expect to ragequit on a game aimed at children.
The levels were either extremely easy (good for children) or too long and too hard. Each piece of those long and difficult levels might not be so bad, but the controls are touchy enough that it's difficult to get everything right in one go.
Finally, for a kids' game, there should be some kind of reward at the end of a level other than a curtain going across. A picture, a map, anything would be better.
I'm mildly curious to see whether Teddy gets back to Rachy finally, but not enough to play this game.
Not to belittle anyone's problems, but I'm really, really surprised to hear complaints about controls and difficulty. I admittedly have a stupidly powerful computer, but I found the game to be quite responsive and only had to restart a few times through my own fault. I also thought it was really easy. Oh well. Win some, lose some? :)
I am wondering if folks saying this game is difficult are "over playing" it.
Granted the controls seem slow but I assume this is by design given its intended audience and also they are teddy bear paced. There is no change of speed and a child could virtually play the whole game keeping one finger on the right arrow and jumping occasionally.
Even the bees do not chase you fast, they move slower than you - you actually have to stop to even let them stay on the screen.
I love the style and music, but totally agree that it seems too difficult for small children. I would think one of the hardest spots for a small child would be the level where you have to
jump onto a falling platform, hit the button to lower a teddy statue, then jump onto that statue, all before the platform falls.
Did I think the game was difficult? Not really. But for a small child it could be frustrating.
I also want to second how annoying it was to have to move WITH the moving platforms - especially since it just seemed like lazy programming, not an intentional game mechanic.
I would be interested to hear from a parent who has had their small child play. Maybe we are just underestimating the children.
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