Drake & Josh reeks of the kind of situation where a developer has an established game engine and a generic game design sitting around, and a big name publisher comes along proposing to slap licensed characters onto that framework. Aside from the lame, text-based dialogue between levels, this game has nothing to do with the show it is based on. I know, because I forced myself to watch two episodes on Nickelodeon while playing through the game. It's about two teenage brothers; one is smart and geeky, the other is a girl-crazy guitar player. They get into crazy situations thanks to their literally evil sister Megan, who plays pranks on them and basically just ruins their lives for no good reason. The show is heavily based on physical comedy, which isn't conveyed at all in the GBA "adaptation".
You play through two (yes, only two) different environments, the school and the movie theater, taking turns controlling each brother. Drake, the musician, sneaks around to avoid teachers, ushers, and security cameras, but stealth goes out the window when he needs to play a quick guitar solo to lure in a pretty girl. Drake uses girls like mindless drones and casts them aside once they have opened a door or pressed a switch for him. These levels have strict time limits and can be very frustrating, especially when trying to walk past the inexplicable paintball guns mounted to the walls, which fire paintballs that inexplicably bounce off surfaces and stun you for a few seconds.
Josh's levels are completely puzzle-based and are much more fun, though probably too difficult for this game's target audience, pre-teen girls who are too stupid to realize how awful the TV show is. These portions of the game are just one block-pushing puzzle after another, and eventually these have a time limit as well, making for a fairly intense experience. Fans of Zelda dungeons and such would enjoy these puzzles if they could soldier on through Drake's poor-man's-Metal-Gear levels.
There are also a few mini-games with overly complicated controls and zero fun. After encountering them in the "adventure," you can play them anytime…by entering a separate password. Good grief.
Drake & Josh is yet another mediocre licensed GBA game with awful production values and occasional flashes of quality buried too deep to be worth your consideration. Your daughter might be sufficiently occupied by it if she's too lost in her own fantasies of making out with Drake to realize that the game has nothing to do with the show.
Pros:
Lastability: 4.0
The game takes three or four hours to complete, which is about normal for licensed GBA schlock. You could go back and play the mini-games again, but that would just be cruel. It's all tied together by a state of the art password saving feature that lets you stop playing and resume later at a point sort of close to where you left off!!!!
Final: 4.5
Move along, nothing to see here.
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Originally posted by: vudu
What's a TSI?
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Originally posted by: rmthompson
"Josh's levels are completely puzzle-based and are much more fun, though probably too difficult for this game's target audience, pre-teen girls who are too stupid to realize how awful the TV show is."
"Your daughter might be sufficiently occupied by it if she's too lost in her own fantasies of making out with Drake to realize that the game has nothing to do with the show."
What a disgusting affront on video game players.
Sir, you will be smart to learn that not all videogamers, or visitors to this site, are 25 year old college students who enjoy a good game of Halo as much as they enjoy a date with a girl.
My daughter, at age 10, is a fan of this show, and while I agree that it is terrible, that is NOT to say my daughter is too STUPID because she watches it. She is 10, and when you were 10 I doubt your tastes were as sophisticated as they are now, nor would I expect you to have understood plot complications and other characterizations that make a show "good."
This show is pretty basic, and that's why it's enjoyed. It uses the same basic plot points and characters that made Full House a hit in the 90's, and most of it is down even lamer than Full House.
However my daughter does not want to "Make Out" with them, and she certainly doesn't deserve to be called stupid. You are disgusting for so effortlessly brushing off this market, and in doing so, readers like me who have kids and will never return to view another review.
Good day,
Jack Thompson
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This shows teaches kids to be shallow, greedy, selfish, arrogant bitches and d*cks.
