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0 Care Bears: Unlock The Magic from Maximum Entertainment is out now. You may know Maximum Entrainment from their previous title Squirrel With a Gun (review here). This is a stark contrast from that game, but if I have half as much fun as TC’s Ruddy had with that title I’m in for a very good time! Care Bears: Unlock The Magic is available on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, for around £25. I got my hands on a Switch copy, so let’s take a look.
You should Care-a-Lot about this review
The Care Bears are iconic, and the recent rebrand has made them even cuter. I was really excited when this first got announced. Hoping it would mean I could play as my favourite bear. Which is Grumpy Bear of course. I literally have a shrine to Grumpy Bear on my desk. Ask me nicely in the comments and I may just show you.
Gameplay
Care Bears: Unlock the Magic is an arcade game at it’s core. There is a slight overarching story in that you need to remove the storm clouds from the Silver Lining path within Care-a-Lot. Play the mini-games to gain star power which how you clear these pesky storm clouds. There are around 200 levels but only a dozen or so unique minigames. Which is fine, after all the mechanics of most Mario games are the same right?
When you start up the game you begin walking along the Silver Lining path as Cheer Bear. Each mini game then features a different bear from Bedtime Bear to Tenderheart Bear. And of course my best boy, Grumpy Bear. The themed mini-games look cute but aren’t always given the best of gameplay instructions. Bearing in mind this game has a PEGI 3 rating I was surprised by how complex some of the games were. Maybe complex is the wrong word. As once you figure out what you’re doing they are relatively easy. In theory that is. In practice some can be a bit difficult to navigate and the TC Mini-Crew (aged 6yo and 8yo) definitely needed some help in places. Yes, I relented and let them have a turn.
As you progress along the path, you’ll notice more and little creatures called the Whiffles. These little cuties don’t do much for the most part, but they’re a cute easter egg along the way. Until you reach the end of the path. But I don’t do spoilers.
Graphics and Audio
Let’s start with the graphics of this game. Care Bears: Unlock The Magic has a cute, cartoon style. It genuinely looks like the cartoon series stepped off the screen and onto, well, another screen. Which is a good thing. All too often we’ve seen popular show spin off games have character models that don’t live up to their cartoon counter parts. For the art and UI design I have to give credit where it’s due. They’ve done this really nicely.
The game has a sweet soundtrack. I don’t have much to say aside it suits the gameplay without being invasive. But at the same time if you asked me to hum it for you I would not be able to. Similarly the sound effects are nice and aren’t jarring.
Longevity
As I’ve mentioned there are over 200 levels in this game. Meaning there is an element of replayability as you don’t need to complete every game to progress. If you’re a completionist you may want to collect all the available stickers to fill your art book. Again this elongates the gameplay time. However, at its core this is not a long game. But who wants a long arcade game?
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a cute casual game Care Bears: Unlock The Magic fits that bill. Whilst this isn’t a long game, and the mini games are not always explained in the best way, it is fun. Is it £25 worth of fun? I’m not so sure. I did enjoy my time with it, and as a Care Bears fan it is a game I will pick up again. Just not regularly.
Care Bears: Unlock The Magic gets the Thumb Culture Silver Award from me.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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