Imagine a game that captures the "joy" of changing diapers, feeding babies and listening to them cry endlessly. What could possibly be more entertaining than that? Imagine Babyz is just one of the numerous games in the ‘Imagine’ series by Ubisoft, who also brought us the Far Cry series. I’m just kidding, Imagine Babyz is simply terrible and this may even be the worst DS game I have ever played. Everything about Imagine Babyz is ridiculous.
Console: NintendoDS
Release Date: October 23, 2007 (NA)
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E
The storyline is slightly strange. Your grandmother is away and she has left you in charge of the house. While she is away, you resort to babysitting to earn some extra cash. While all of these exciting events are taking place, a talking Stork (who is apparently your grandmother's friend) comes and makes a nest in your home. You will, as bizarre as this may sound, receive tips on babysitting from it by speaking to it through your chimney. What was Ubisoft thinking when they made this?
A talking Stork? wat.
The visuals are certainly an improvement compared to the other aspects of this game. The 3D babies look undoubtedly cute with their large, innocent-looking eyes. Additionally, the babies can be dressed in different costumes which are sometimes entertaining to see such as cowboy gear, ninja gear etc. To be fair, Imagine Babyz is pretty colourful and vibrant.
DDDD: WHAT DID YOU DO?!
Looking after a baby in real life is not very fun. I’m talking about changing diapers, feeding etc. Putting these things into a game and selling it for money is just unacceptable. Of course, everyone has different tastes when it comes to gaming. However, babysitting and gaming are two separate things and should not be mixed, clearly proven by Imagine Babyz. The idea of the game is just ridiculous, and the actual gameplay is no different.
Is that soap.. in its mouth? o.0
The game starts off badly. Imagine Babyz even makes entering your name difficult. Most of the game takes place on the touch screen. It seems that here Ubisoft is using the
DS’s touch screen just for the sake of it and they’re not doing a very good job with it. This is proven throughout the game especially when the player is trying to select a letter for their name, feed the baby or even shake a rattle to make the baby happy.
Longevity:
The game is very repetitive and is very short. It doesn’t last very long and you’re always doing pretty much the same thing over and over again. Looking after babies is repetitive itself and not very entertaining unless you’re an 8 year old girl. Furthermore, there are no additional bonus features (Wifi etc.) so once you’ve completed the game it will gather dust fairly quickly.
Are they trying to break the door down or something? :/
Believe it or not, for most of the game there is no music. However, when there is music playing in the background it is almost always the same tune. Any game’s soundtrack is an important part of it as the background music is what creates most of the atmosphere. Without any music, a game can get boring quickly and that is exactly what is happening here. Putting the background music aside, Ubisoft has recorded various sounds that babies make in real life and inserted them into the game. While the sound of a baby crying is not pleasant, it is still pretty realistic.
Overall:
Overall, I found Imagine Babyz to be the worst Nintendo
DS game I have ever played. Ubisoft has produced some great games in the past, but I have no idea what they were thinking when they came up with the idea and decided to create a game where the player looks after babies through various minigames. Looking after babies is not fun, and this game is no different. In my opinion, this game could only be entertaining if you’re an 8 year old girl.
Linear Mode
