The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley

"As easy as it gets, Lost Vikings for the young"

The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley

Who doesn't know the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley? Well, ok, probably a lot of people, even though they're in the news at the moment quarrelling about their commonly earned millions. This money comes from a lot of movies they've made together since they were young, and a series of those were 'The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley'. It is on this series the Gameboy Color game, produced by Crawfish Interactive and released by Acclaim in 1999/2001, is loosely based on.

The game consists of different cases the twins, together with their dog Clue, have to solve. Each case is subdivided into eleven individual levels. In each level the three have to get a puzzle piece that helps them solve the riddle of the cases. In order to beat a level and get these pieces, you have to use all three protagonists with their individual skills, similar to the better-known Lost Vikings.

Ashley is the only one who can flick lever switches, and she's also the one who can pick up Clue and throw him at enemies to get rid of them. Mary-Kate on the other hand can jump higher than the other two as well as withstand falling boulders. Her most-used ability, though, will be that she can boost up the others to higher levels when they jump on her head. Last but not least, Clue the dog - aside from his ability to get thrown - is the only one able to swim. He can also be stood on (what great ability!...), so he can carry the others over water or the girls can reach higher up via his head. These abilities will get you through the game if you combine them well. The controls are such that you guide each character individually, one at a time. So you have to switch between them.

Even though there are a few traps, enemies, moving platforms and obstacles where you can fall to your death, the levels themselves are mostly of very low difficulty, with the exception of one or two situations where you need to be quick with changing characters. Additionally, there are plenty of bonus lives scattered through the levels and in short bonus levels after each case. Conveniently, there's also a password system that lets you restart at the beginning of each new case should you still somehow manage to lose all your lives. The whole game can be beaten within 2 hours easily once you get the hang of the basics. Just according to the detective twins' motto "Will solve any crime by dinner time". After beating all levels, there's no incentive to go back or to play the game again. There are no other game modes, no hidden secrets and not even a highscore list.

The levels, while often very small and short, are at least colorful. Each of the five cases has its own theme with nice level graphics, ranging from an old, dark and spooky house to a bright fun park, and ending at a beach. Also visibility and discernibility of objects and enemies are good and don't give reason to complain. The music score of the game is so-so. Every case has its own music, suiting its theme quite well, but repeating over and over. At least the tracks aren't too bad so they don't get on one's nerves too quickly. Still, they do not make you want to spend more time than necessary on the levels. The best track is the intro part anyway. As a bonus, there are small voice-elements included, but all I was able to understand was 'crime' and 'dinner-time', so they don't actually add to the game.

One last thing to mention are the notes. In each level there are three notes scattered in the area. Once you collect them, you get a hint of how to solve the level. This, however, is a big joke, as more often than not the solution is so straightforward that getting all notes would cause the most trouble. And the hints given are mostly obvious things about how the game works - so one of the worst hint systems I've ever seen in a video game.

Overall, New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley is a game clearly designed for young kids. This shows in its subject and colorful appearance and becomes especially apparent in its very low difficulty level. So for the younger people, this game might be just right to get into platform games: it's easy to get into and is reasonably short. But even though there are no technical flaws, you probably won't touch this game if you're older than about 10 to 12 years old or unless you have a special fable for the Olsen twins. It becomes boring quickly, which is a bit of a shame, as the concept itself would have a good potential for a very fun game.

Final score: 44/100 - which is rounded down for GameFAQs to 4/10.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/08

Game Release: The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley (US, December 1999)