As a hardcore gamer with two toddlers (ages 1 and 3), I often think about when — and how — I’ll introduce them to videogames. Should I use a Lego game? A mellow puzzler? Thankfully, the arrival of Once Upon a Monster has given me the perfect answer.
This Kinect-only game has been designed from the ground up to offer drop-in/drop-out co-op with one adult and one child as young as 4. It’s rare to see a 360 game skew that young, but if any license ever cried out for it, it’s Sesame Street. Players spend most of the game controlling fan favorites Cookie Monster and Elmo, and the game’s premise is the stuff of childhood dreams: you step inside an interactive storybook (by actually grabbing the edges of the virtual tome and pulling yourself in!), then play through each of its six chapters.
Flapping our hands to fly? Could've done without it.
And what a world you’re entering! Beautifully textured muppets, catchy music, amazing voicework from the show’s cast — truly, Monster is a masterpiece of presentation. Each 30-minute chapter has you helping a never-before-seen muppet, whether you’re weeding and watering Shelby’s garden, reuniting Tallulah with her marching band, or celebrating Marco’s birthday with him.
All of these tasks promote core values from the TV show (generosity, self-esteem), but not all of the Kinect-based activities promote fun. Some — like flapping your hands to fly, or running down trails where you lean around rocks, hop over logs, and duck under branches — feel like traveling busywork. Moreover, a few activities are actually made worse by Monster’s kid-friendly design, which automatically completes some tasks (without penalizing you) if you’re too slow; when it does, you feel like the game is playing itself.
Dancing segments are a great excuse to shake your caboose.
The best activities, though, lead to magical moments befitting this cheery world. Petting shy Puffalopes Kinectimals-style and matching them up with adorable guardian Grrhoof is one highlight; another makes clever use of Kinect’s voice recognition by asking you to describe some small events, then stringing your sound clips into a mini-narrative. In Monster’s finest bits, I turned to my 5-year-old co-op partner and saw a smile that’d melt even the most cynical hearts.
Unless you’re a Sesame Street super-fan, playing alone or with another adult will rob those sequences of their full impact. As with the TV show, kids are clearly the center of Monster’s universe. But for parents seeking a videogame to share with their children, this game offers hours of joy.
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive • Developer: Double Fine • ESRB: Everyone • Multiplayer: 2-player co-op (local only) • Achievements: Blissfully easy • Cost: $50
+ Stellar presentation; great parent-child co-op play; the whole game SCREAMS Sesame Street.
+ Some inspired activities; finishing chapters unlocks sweet developer commentaries.
– A few tedious activities; game is only three hours long (though replayable).
? Can Double Fine please teach an Intros 101 class? Like Brütal Legend’s, Monster’s pre-game opener rocks.
