Mom Reviews: PokePark 2 for Nintendo Wii

It's been a while since I posted a product review, so I'm going to lead off with one that I had already prepared for PokePark 2 for the Nintendo Wii. This review was originally featured here at Epinions as well, click for the full version! The version below is edited for the sake of brevity, if you really need more details please stop and read the full 500+ word version above!

Parents of little ones who are into Pokemon have probably heard such requests as, “I wish I could really have a pet Pikachu” or “Hey, Mom, can we go to the Pokemon theme park in Japan?” As a mom of such a child, I can say that the new PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond game for the Nintendo Wii makes a valiant attempt at filling the void between traditional Pokemon video games and a child’s desire to interact more with the adorable little creatures. For the basis of this review, I have to assume that you have some familiarity with Pokemon in general, lest you wouldn’t likely be reading this. I’m also going to assume based on personal experience, that you have a child at home clamoring for this game.

The premise is fairly simple: you get to play as either Pikachu, Snivy, Oshawatt, or Tepig - a pleasant change from the original PokePark which allowed you to only play as Pikachu. As a Pokemon, you will need to befriend other Pokemon in the world, approximately 100 of them, by winning short battles, race events, or completing simple quests for them. There are also “Attractions”, playing off of the amusement park theme, which include simple games such as Pokemon trivia, Whack-A-Mole style carnival fun, and hide-and-seek. As you complete these games, you also unlock them in multiplayer mode, which will allow friends, or mom and dad, to jump in for a few minutes in games designed for two to four players. Overall, the game is a collection of minigames, wrapped in a pretty Pokemon-world called Wish Park.

Your character is given a “Pokepark Pad”, or diary of sorts, to keep track of who you’re helping and where you need to go next. The more of these missions you complete, the more Pokemon you will unlock upon your journey.

Thankfully, the controls are simple, as the game only requires the basic Wii remote, and most functions are completed with only the “A” button, which allows even the youngest of players or those not so gaming-inclined, to join in the fun. A relatively basic reading ability is required to play, as you will need to follow some directions that guide you on your journey. However, if your child is already reading well enough to play other games from the Pokemon franchise, it should pose no challenges.

The graphics are well done, with bright, colorful, engaging worlds and accurate rendering of the Pokemon that your kids know and love. And, thankfully, the music and sound effects are mild and pleasant - unlike many other children’s games where I just want to hit the mute button after about ten minutes.

Now for the down side: This game is only going to appeal to the very youngest of Pokemon fans. The game rides the line constantly of being almost too easy and is overall very short, as you can complete the bulk of the game in under 8 hours. As a parent of a 7 year old, it’s at just the right speed, with certain minigames requiring a little practice to win, but never getting so frustratingly difficult to turn him off from the game entirely. However, if you’re an adult Poke-addict or the parent of an older Pokemon fan, you’ll likely be disappointed. From a parent point of view, this game is probably best left to the 10-and-under crowd. A bit more entertainment can be drawn from the game with the feature of taking pictures along your adventure - something my son greatly enjoyed, as it allowed him to catch quick snapshots that he could show me and his friends later.

Simplicity aside, I still maintain that this is a winning purchase for the younger set. It is one of the only games that allows you to take on the role of an actual Pokemon, which based on my experience is what many kids enjoy the most. And for the older kids and parents, the game allows you to jump in for a few minutes of playing together through the use of the multiplayer minigames, so that you can still get some “gaming together” time.

Overall, this may be considered a pricy buy at $50, but the amount of enjoyment my son gets out of it, and the fact that he continues to return to it although he’s already finished the core game, makes it worthwhile. I would definitely recommend a rental first, or borrow it from a friend, if you have children on the older side as mentioned above. But in the end, this is definitely a worthy journey at a different perspective through the world of Pokemon.

Babysitting is not my day job.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE kids. All kids, not just my own. I've worked for preschools and summer camps, and I would let my kiddo have twenty friends over a day and not blink an eye. What I don't like though, are parents who like to leave their little darlings unattended in public places.

Now, moms and dads, this seems like a no-brainer, right? I have an (almost) five year old myself, and I would never, ever in a million years, leave him in a public place with total strangers, and just leave! And seriously, this happens to me every. Single. Day.

My "regular" job happens to be a retail store that does attract kids. We carry some products for kids. Most normal parents come in with their kids. However, we're also located in a big shopping center (strip mall, for those of you familiar with that term). There's a bank, a Chinese restaurant, a pizzeria, a nail salon, a clothing store, a coffee shop, and a major supermarket. A certain amount of kid-only traffic is expected from the tween and teen crowd of course. What baffles me though, are the parents who drop their young kids - age 10 or younger! - at the door, then head to the supermarket for two hours to do their grocery shopping!

Parents, PLEASE! This is not safe! Although I try to keep an eye out on these unfortunate littles that are unattended, if there are twenty other customers in the store that I need to attend to, I cannot babysit your child for you! This includes the well behaved ones - they may not be causing any harm, but honestly I don't know that the adult they walk out the door with is their parent or guardian. On the other hand you have the little troublemakers, who spend the entire time ripping things off of racks, shoving to get in front of other people, and generally causing mischeif. What am I supposed to do with them when their parents aren't there to handle them?

Case in point: One Sunday early afternoon, a child about 5 or 6 years old comes in at the same time as a group of teens and adults. An hour and a half later, I realize the child is still there - except now there are no adults in sight, and there haven't been for a while. Another 45 minutes passes, customers come and go, and the child is no longer there. I figure the parent came back to retrieve them (finally). Well, all of a sudden, this child's mom comes in, asking where her son is. I respond that I have no clue who her son is. (I didn't put two and two together until later on.) She proceeds to scream at me and I tell her that I'm sorry, but no one has been in the store for at least 15 minutes. She leaves and calls the police, reporting her child missing. The police come, and I tell them the whole story. An hour after THAT, they finally find the child - he had gone to the supermarket to look for mom because he was bored!

Of course, all's well that ends well. But, what if that child had been bribed out of the store by an adult and abducted? I cannot fathom ever leaving my child alone somewhere! And this happens at my job not rarely, but actually multiple times on any given day, and moreso on the weekends.

So, moms and dads, I put this to you: am I expecting too much? Would you leave your child in a kid-friendly store and just assume that they will be safe? Or would you never dream of leaving your child alone somewhere? Tell me your thoughts!!