The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks
The boy detectives head to Europe in search of treasure
Tags: Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks Categories: DS Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 29th, 2009
I was actually looking forward to The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks, and may have been one of the only ones. While there is a resurgence in the mystery/adventure genre, an occurrence I am quite pleased with, the DS seems to have been lagging behind in this department. When it was announced that the famous boy detectives would be making an appearance on the handheld, I thought it would be a perfect match.
I still think that it is a good fit, but this isn’t the game I was hoping for. For the most part the path is far too linear, the puzzles lack challenge (though there are a few doozies), and the game is rather short. The writing is good, especially the personalities of the title characters, and the mystery itself is decent as well. It is the execution that leaves the game lacking.
One of my bigger gripes about the game has to do with the movement around the screen. Far too often I am scribbling madly across the screen with my DS trying to get an arrow to show up to indicate a direction of travel. This is particularly troublesome when trying to “back out” of having examined a specific area. It’s not a killer to the enjoyment of the game, but a constant irritant.
Despite the issues with movement and the stylus, the screen is packed with detail. Even with a lot of stuff on the screen, it is easy to see everything. This is one of the reasons why The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks works so well, because these types of games rely of accurately navigating the visual clues.
One of the features touted is playing as both brothers as well as another character, but it isn’t as well defined as it should be. Because the story is so linear, the player is dictated as to which character to play and when. This particular gameplay mechanic of switching characters really has no bearing on the story or how the player solves the mystery. The characters themselves are all well written and distinct, but it could all have been one person for the sake of the game.
With good environmental detail and a well crafted mystery, there is certainly enough here to entertain fans of mystery/adventure game fans. The Hardy Boys have been around for decades, and they have been updated quite nicely in this story. The difficulty is certainly geared towards younger players, but even older, more experienced, players will find enough reason to spend a weekend with Frank and Joe.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Well written + Good mystery/adventure on the platform |
7.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Controls not as precise as they should be - Far too linear and short |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Fans of the genre will enjoy this. It isn't the best example, but fun. | |
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Tags: Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 29th, 2009 and is filed under DS Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
