Gayming time - Hannah Montana for the DS review
Is Hannah Montana in the room with us?
Hey, Girlie! I have been on a Hannah Montana kick as of late. Since I recently bought the Hannah Montana DS game from 2006, I decided to play through it. I love the show and my 2DS so I thought I’d at least like this game. Let’s talk about how my gameplay journey went.
Plot
Miley Stewart is a teenager with a secret pop star persona. When she puts on her blond wig, she becomes the world-famous singer – Hannah Montana! Today, her secret is in danger as someone sends her a message threatening to expose it. You have to help her figure out who the mystery sender is. To do so, you’ll scour Miley’s everyday surroundings for clues and talk to anyone who may have some information.
The 2DS/3DS doesn’t allow you to take screenshots of DS games played via the cartridge. That’s why the pictures are taken with a phone. Which makes it more authentically Y2K anyway, let’s be real.
I avoided playing this game for so long just because the splash screen art seemed so bad. I really don’t like that art style. What’s going on with her chin?? Luckily, there are two more art styles in this game.
This cartoony style is mostly used with the top screen of the DS while the characters are talking. The bottom screen uses pixel art as you navigate the game. The third style shows up only when you enter the secret Hannah Montana closet and want to make outfits for her. Hannah is shown in a low-poly 3D way only then. Damn, our girl looks rough. Oh well, it’s the charm of DS graphics.
The cartoony style was actually easy to get used to and I like the pixel-art style quite a bit. The 3D Hannah model is always so out-of-place, though. Also, taking her hat/bandana off is not an option. She has a teal bandana on by default. At least she’s stylised unlike the 3D models in other DS Hannah Montana games which attempted to go for realism. However, I will not forgive Rico and Oliver’s designs. In pixel-art form, Oliver gives Gargamel from The Smurfs with an Edna Mode bob. Rico just doesn’t look like himself in any of the styles. I’m sorry, I only took a picture of Oliver and I really can’t play this game again so soon. Trust me, Rico looks like a goblin.
The gameplay loop is pretty simple. Each episode (a level in the game) begins with someone threatening to expose the Hannah secret. The game gives you a starting clue, and you have to follow it. You go to a location to talk to the person who the clue points to. They either give you the next clue right away or ask you to do something for them and give you the clue after. That process repeats until the mystery is solved.
To keep the game dynamic, the developers gave us a few interesting mechanics. Sometimes, a person is blocking your way and you have to choose the correct lines to make them move. This is done by drawing a shape with your stylus that corresponds to the line which you want to say.
I got a feel for what to say pretty quickly. However, sometimes I picked the wrong option and the game would make me do the dialogue again because it was too mean. Other times, the game wanted me to pick the craziest lines and rewarded me for it. This contradictory trend is seen a lot while talking to Amber and Ashley. It was hard to figure out the correct choices with them unless they were really obvious. Here’s my favourite piece of dialogue with them. I die every time I read it XD (Scroll past the images if you don’t want to be spoiled)
The shape-drawing mechanic is also used to open doors. No matter if you have been in a room before or not, you have to draw a shape when entering it. The game recognises the shape you’re drawing half the time. I often found myself furiously redrawing a shape over and over until I got it right. My hands can get shaky, which didn’t help.
To gather clues you also use the Magn-o-matic; a magnifying glass, and the Flash-o-matic; a flashlight. The former is used in lit areas to search the floor and surfaces, while the latter is used to shine a spotlight in dark areas. You can also use these tools to find hidden pieces of clothing for the Hannah Montana closet. Looking for these was pretty fun. I found most of them while taking a break from the fetch-quests. When I got too bored by it, I had to look up a guide online.
As I said, every episode in the game revolves around Miley’s secret being endangered. I would have liked some more variety. Since the game tries to emulate the show, I wanted to see some show-like conflicts like telling Oliver the secret, going to an interview and managing schoolwork, etc. I will say, it is good that each episode’s conflict is resolved in a somewhat distinct way.
My biggest gripe with this game was the lack of music. There’s music playing in the background, but the soundtrack is not even Hannah Montana songs. I think it’s the background music from the show. Gameplay-wise, there is no concert to be performed during the game, no rhythm mini-game, almost nothing tied to the Hannah world except for the secret and getting to make outfits in the closet. The outfits don’t get used in the game, though so it doesn’t really matter. How did they make a Hannah Montana game and forget about Hannah Montana, we will never know XD
I wouldn’t be surprised if this game got huge with the queer community, seeing how much Hannah gets shoved in the closet. Dw, I’m queer so I can say it.
Overall, this was a fun, chill, mindless game to play when I got stressed out and needed some nostalgia. Would I replay it? Maybe one day, years from now. Would I recommend it? Only if you are a huge Hannah Montana fan and also need some respite. This game feels like a winter day where you are in the bed, all bundled up, happily playing away on your DS.
Thank you so much for visiting the Pillow Fort! I hope you liked this review even if I didn’t like the game much. Tell me your opinions on it if you have played or seen it. Or tell me about your favourite girly games. I need some recs! You can stay here a bit, with some DVDs, or get some hot cocoa, and relax. I have to go, though. Until next time, see ya!
Dorian
The blog’s header and the drawing featured atop this post were made by @ambybun on Instagram
The DVD cover featured on the drawing was made by me