Great Journey Mr. Penguin’s Letter

Taking place in a fictitious version of our own world, Great Journey features a plea for help from Mr. Penguin to his two friends Tony and Annie (you pick who you would like to play as) to come to the Antarctic and help stop a vile criminal from dumping garbage all over the place, thus turning Mr. Penguin's home into a disgusting mess. The adventure will have you traveling all over the planet, meeting up with old friends and solving mini quests/problems that involve doing the right thing and treating others and the planet fairly.

Now Mr. Penguin is a game that is really aimed at the younger set and will more then likely need to be played with an older sibling or parent-type person. The game features a fixed camera view with the characters able to move about the area by mean of the mouse. This is one of those point-and-click style games that were once very popular and now only seen rarely. But for what needs to be done, the interface is fairly friendly and kids 6 and older should have no problem navigating through it. Of course you should know that different tools/items can be selected from the bottom screen inventory and used on appropriate items found in the game.

I chose this game because I do have two small boys, and since gaming is a big part of our family's entertainment, I was looking for a title that I could play with my 2-year old and thought this could be it. Well, for the initial gaming session, he sat in my lap and enjoyed the bright colors and kid-friendly graphics that the game features; the game has bright-eyed main characters and animals that are friendly looking and approachable. Not anything on the level of a Disney movie mind you, but still, there is no denying that upon first look that this game is one for the little ones. Other than that, I had to do the mouse controlling but my boy appeared to be enjoying himself with the smiles and giggles that were a result of some joke that I couldn't quite see, but the game is goofy in a good way so I guess I have to give it props for appealing to small children. However, after about 15 minutes his mind began to wander (as it often does) and he got down from my lap and his older brother took his place. This time, though, my older son took over the mouse and although he had no desire to advance the story all that much, took some enjoyment out of clicking on various items that are scattered around any given landscape, that react with a noise or light or something.

The light little music and sound effects were done with children in mind, obviously. And they do a good job of keeping kids entertained by their strange noises and quirky sounds. I had initially thought that this game may be something my 11-year-old nephew may enjoy, but he found it to be a bit too young for him, so I'm wondering if a good target age group for this game shouldn't be 6- to 10-years of age. And while there are plenty of things to do, the action that takes place is decidedly non-violent. Little mini-games pop up that may have you playing soccer or feeding monkeys. It's a decent title for parents who want to let their kids play games but are concerned about objectionable subject matter or violence.

In the end, the game offers up some good lessons about littering, treating others in a nice way and even not to feed crocodiles the wrong sandwich. A game that I feel most parents would simply have no problem letting their children play.

Gameplay: 7.5
It's simplistic, but could provide some difficulty for players on the younger end of the spectrum.

Graphics: 7.0
Very simple looking game, the bright colors are designed to evoke a child friendly appeal and it does, normally I would not have scored the game as high as a 7, but I had to adjust my mode of thinking when playing and reviewing this title.

Sound: 6.7
Again, the sound effects provided the required responses from my two boys, adults who need to be involved in the game may tire of the constant saccharine sounds.

Difficulty: Medium for children, Easy for adults
You shouldn't be playing this one if there isn't a kid in the room, it's just to easy.

Concept: 7.9
The game does a good job of parlaying positive messages, and the cross-continent adventures reminded me of a junior Indiana Jones adventure.

Overall: 7.2
There are very few games that are aimed at this young audience that don't have the word Nintendo next to them. It's a solid adventure for your young ones.