Product Review: Ice Age: Continental Drift - Arctic Games for Nintendo DS.

My family had the opportunity to review Activision's latest movie-themed game for the Nintendo DS: Ice Age: Continental Drift - Arctic Games.

According to the press release:

In Ice Age: Continental Drift – Arctic Games, a secret treasure has fallen into the hands of the Ice Age gang and trouble has stirred over the glaciers as to who will keep the prized riches. Naturally, the best way to settle the score is through a series of wintery sporting events! Join the jolly “Herd” or the mischievous “Pirates” to compete in the first ever Arctic Games to determine who can land their paws on the prize. Play as Manny, Diego, Sid, and other prehistoric pals in competitive games like glacier hopping, ski jumping, and squirrel cannon. Gamers can compete through story mode, free play, and tournament style games to reach for new records and earn gold, silver, and bronze acorn medals. Ice Age: Continental Drift – Arctic Games is perfect for gamers of all ages to get together and laugh their way through silly competition. It’s time to team up with your favorite sub-zero friend and go for the gold!

Considering the Olympic games going on right now, the kids had a good time playing something with the same type of goals and themes. There's a story mode where one can listen to longer dialogues (and smack-talking) between the Herd and the Pirates. The story apparently differs somewhat from the movie plot; in this game, the Herd and Pirates challenge each other to an acorn-shaped cornucopia of food. The dialogue leads you into each of the ten games. The winning team from each event earns 5 units of food, the losing team earns 2 units. Whichever team earns the most food after all of the events wins. There exists opportunity for individuals to earn high scores in each of the events, whether in story mode or free-play mode.

You can play with one or two players on a single DS. One player gets to choose which team: the Pirates or the Herd. Two player allows each player to be one team or the other.

The games are very very simple, in line with its ESRB "E" rating. Here are summaries of each event. Any mention of collecting acorns = bonus points or bonus time:

• Bob-Smashing: Manny (if you're the Herd) or Captain Gutt (if you're the Pirates) fly down a hill smashing targets and collecting acorns. Control Manny or Captain Gutt by using the control pad to steer right or left, and the "A" button to maintain speed.

• Glacier Hopping: Diego or Shira run from left to right across a path, dodging obstacles and collecting acorns. Use the control pad to move and the "A" button to jump. The fastest time wins, acorns will remove time.

• Coconut Slingshot: Using the stylus, Peaches or Raz will fling coconuts towards targets and acorns. The furthest targets earn the most points.

• Mountain Drift: Granny or Gupta slalom ski down a hill. Keep within the gates while collecting acorns for the fastest time. Missed gates will yield a time penalty, while acorns are a time bonus.

• Scrat Cannon: Scrat is launched out of the Pirate cannon. The player has to maneuver Scrat onto trampoline targets using the touch screen to maintain altitude and the "Y" and "A" buttons to steer left and right. I will say that I couldn't even get Scrat to the first trampoline in this event, so I got zero points the two times I tried. My kids could do it just fine, though.

• Shell Slide: Sid plays a game of curling against Squint. Slide turtle shells across the ice towards a target. The most shells on the target yields the most points, and knocking the opponent's turtle shells off the target will remove points for your opponent.

• Ice Smash: Diego or Shira run through a maze and the player has to make the tiger thump him/herself downward to crack through the ice to the next lower level. Thump on snowballs for acorn credits and jump over snowballs to keep from slowing down. The fastest time wins.

• Style Jump: Sid or Squint will fly down a ramp to take off on a ski jump. Try to use the stylus on the touch screen to do tricks for points.

• Slip Slide: Ellie or Captain Gutt (again) slide down a snowy hill. Speed is key in this game, all the player has to do is keep the character out of the snow piles (which slows you down) and employ the "speed arrows" for quicker times. The fastest time wins.

• Prehistoric Plumber: My least favorite of all 10 games. Maneuver Scrat up and down a crevasse of ice and seal up leaks. Use the stylus to do this. It's more a "how well can I use my DS stylus" exercise than really a game of skill. As usual, my sons could do this with ease while I fumbled.

If you're in story mode, then at the conclusion of all ten events, the final food tally is calculated and a winner is declared. More smack talk ensues and the story then concludes.

For fans of the Ice Age franchise, this game is a welcome addition; even if you've seen the movie in theaters right now, the video game's storyline is unique enough to maintain interest. Bringing most of the original characters' voices into the making of the game always helps, too.

Ice Age: Continental Drift - Arctic Games is rated “E” (Everyone) by the ESRB and is available on Kinect for Xbox 360 for a suggested retail price of $39.99, Wii and Nintendo 3DS for $29.99, and Nintendo DS for $24.99.

A complimentary copy of this game was provided for review purposes.