OK Konami, great joke, but where is the real game? I opened the case, put the cartridge in my DS, and had a good chuckle... it’s very funny. Is there some kind of code to unlock the real game? I’ll even settle for a voucher to mail away for it. This is it? Really? Well then, things aren’t quite so funny anymore; in fact I’m insulted. I’d go far as to say that anyone who puts this cartridge in will also be offended, whether they’re in the intended audience of "pre-teen girl" or not — Winx Club: Quest for the Codex is that bad. Do these girls really need another self-esteem shocking franchise emphasizing giant thighs, tiny waists, spotlight eyes, and bad gameplay?
"... where is the real game?"
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Winx Club, at its big, bubbly pink heart, is a collection of minigames — something the DS grew out of about a year ago in terms of what to expect from new games. It probably wouldn’t be such a big deal if the minigames were any fun, but to put it bluntly, they’re not. The minigames are peppered throughout (more like jammed into) the sparse and empty main quest, which is sadly the part of the game with the most potential. It’s set up like a side-scrolling shooter, but each stage is almost entirely devoid of enemies or obstacles. It’s a nice feature to be able to switch firing directions from front to back, but with about three enemies a stage, it’s kind of wasted here. Perhaps Konami will want to consider this feature for a DS installment of Gradius?
Another feature with potential was the ability to switch between the each member making up the racial rainbow that is the Winx Club. The six characters have different attacks, but they all do pretty much the same thing with different visual effects. All they’re really good for is a fresh life bar, but since you won’t be facing anything over a handful of enemies a stage, just pick your favorite color and have a blast.
"Winx Club... is a collection of minigames..."
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Anyone annoyed with the main quest will find no solace in the minigames, which do nothing but add to the monotony you’re already experiencing. The six minigames are nothing special, but some are more playable than others, as well as more (and I use this term loosely here) fun than others. There are two rhythm based games, one requiring you to touch the instruments with the stylus as they fall towards the bottom of the screen, and one that uses the familiar DDR style "cross" layout the developers hoped you’d use your fingers for. There’s another minigame called Flora’s Enchanted Garden, where you simply touch any bugs crawling across the screen to kill them. Believe me, it’s absolutely riveting.
Most people will get a bigger kick out of a rip-off of classic puzzler Pipe Dream, called Techna-Logic. The object is to get the continuously moving electrical charge from the starting point to the ending point by building a path with the pieces given to you. Bugs will show up in your path, and it’s up to you to squish tap them out of existence. On the harder difficulty levels, a decent challenge is provided, but it’s the only mode worth noting since the remaining two are absolute duds. Stella’s Solar Power has players drawing lines to bounce around a magical spinning ball, though it sometimes fails to recognize lines you drew, and Bloom’s Dragon Flight is a small level consisting of the exact same thing as the main quest. Talk about variety!
The awful presentation is the last straw. I understand that the game isn’t intended for someone my age or sex, but I can’t imagine anybody taking this story seriously. During one scene, a character is asked how things are going with her "BF." Apparently they "IMed all summer, and played some PVP," but she "couldn’t get a hold of his ISP." What are they talking about? Do the developers even know what an ISP is? Following this acronym-heavy dialogue, the Winx Club is informed that the evil Lord Darkar is on the move, so it’s on to another stretch of boring minigames. It just seemed like all of the internet jargon was offset heavily by the need to wrangle a malevolent lord of dark magic, especially given the "My Little Pony" styled world.
"... I can’t imagine anybody taking this story seriously."
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When you really look at what Winx Club: Quest for the Codex brings to the table it’s hard not to want to vomit. The images are enough to make me insecure about my body, and I’m both in my 20s and an official member of chromosome club XY. The gameplay makes me want to cram my stylus into my ear, and I’ve been playing games for well over twenty years. Neither of those feelings will make girls want to play games, and will make them want to put this one down, so developers might want to start thinking about ways to make games like this enjoyable before they drown their market out of existence.
