Since I won't have a new movie review until November, I decided to review another video game based on a DreamWorks film: Shrek's Totally Tangled Tales!
In this game, Shrek and his friends need your help: The Fairy Godmother has cast a nasty spell on Fiona’s dad
King Harold, and now, he keeps turning into all sorts of crazy storybook characters! But all he really wants to be
is his froggy self.
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| Harold after turning into the Genie from Aladdin. |
Now, it’s up to you to get to the castle and retrieve the magic wand to reverse the spell. Along the way, you’ll have
to answer questions about your favorite stories and solve some funky puzzles. Are you up to the challenge?
This game is very similar to the Madagascar Trivia Game I reviewed earlier this year. Instead of answering
questions about animals, however, you have to answer questions about fairy tales, nursery rhymes, Greek myths,
and public domain chapter books. While ‘Madagascar’ had clips of real animals to accommodate the questions,
‘Shrek’ has new fairy tale animation inspired by the storybook illustrations from the Shrek films. There are also
new live-action clips with John Cleese reprising his role as King Harold.
Players can pick between four characters from the Shrek films: Gingy (aka The Gingerbread Man), the Three
Blind Mice, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Three Little Pigs.
In this game, there are ten different challenges you’ll encounter.
Shout Your Answer, hosted by Donkey, in which you have to shout the answer out loud. After shouting your
answer, press ‘Reveal Answer’ to see if you were right.
Tongue Twisters, also hosted by Donkey, in which you have to say the showcased tongue twister out loud
five times before time runs out.
Pinocchio Knows, in which you have to answer the question before Pinocchio’s nose reaches the end of the screen.
Who Am I? Hosted by Puss in Boots, you have to guess the character based on the following three clues.
If you guess correctly after only one clue, move ahead two spaces!
Twisted Tale or Real Tale, in which Puss briefly summarizes a famous story. Then, it’s up to you to
decide whether he’s messing up the details of the plot or giving you the straight scoop.
For Picture Scramble, you’ll see a picture that’s more scrambled than Humpty Dumpty after his fall.
It’s up to you to solve the question regarding the picture before time runs out.
Triple Tales, hosted by Shrek, which is basically the same as Madagascar’s Triple Trails. Here, you have
to answer three questions in a row. If you answer all three of them correctly, you get to move ahead two
spaces! If you answered two of the questions correctly, move ahead one. If you answered only one question
correctly, stay where you are. If you answer none of the questions correctly, you have to move back one space.
Spot the Difference, hosted by Shrek, in which you have to spot the difference between two screenshots
from Shrek 2. Just be careful: Some of the changes are just very subtle.
Multiple Choice, hosted by Fiona, in which you have to answer a multiple-choice question regarding
either the showcased fairy tale or Shrek 2 (but no Shrek 1, unfortunately).
And finally, Anagrams, in which Fiona hosts word puzzles that slowly reveal themselves as time goes by.
If you answer correctly within the yellow range of the stopwatch, you’ll move ahead two spaces!
Think that’s all too much brain power? Well, every now and then, your noodle takes a break with Twisted
Twirls. Here, you’ll witness the effects of the Fairy Godmother’s spell first-hand and see King Harold turn into the
likes of King Arthur, Peter Pan, Goldilocks, Robin Hood, and even Davy Crockett! Press the button on the
wheel below, and the corresponding clip will either force you to move up one, move down one, move up
two, or stay where you are.
Along with all that, there’s also the optional Tangled Tales option, hosted by Fiona. After answering a
question correctly, you have to choose from a group of words onscreen to write down on your Tangled
Tales card, slowly making your very own fairy tale Mad Libs style! If you win the game, you get to read
your Tangled Tale out loud.
And that’s how you play Shrek: Totally Tangled Tales! First one to get past the ninth stage wins!
While not as engaging as Madagascar Animal Trivia, Shrek: Totally Tangled Tales is still a really good
alternative to the next two Shrek movies that most fans would rather ignore. It’ll also make you want to
read classic chapter books, such as Little Women, Black Beauty, Pollyanna, and The Three Musketeers.
What holds the game back is that, when you have lots of players, you’ll get lots of Twisted Twirls, and it
becomes more annoying than fun. Not to mention that some of the questions are rather difficult if you
haven’t caught up on your reading.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
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