Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Potion Commotion Review
Aunt Hilda just wanted a dance partner, but instead managed to freeze herself and liven up all the household items. Sabrina is willing to help by finding the things needed to make a counter spell, but getting around all these lethal appliances, games and toys may be a little tricky. However, with her handy Lullaby spell she can put the dangerous items to sleep and thus move around the house.
On the first level, the lullaby spell is the only spell available. Each spell cast costs points, but as extra points are scattered liberally around and the magic items are pretty easy to avoid, anyway, Sabrina will hardly ever run out of magic points. Extra lives are also numerous. There are four areas to explore, each with four levels and a special "make-a-potion" level. There are also five mini-games that involve beating the "Quiz-Master", one of which can only be played after completing all of the Quiz Master's challenges. The areas are mostly based on locations from the TV show and are the Spellman's house, the pizzeria, school and a magic tree. As players advance through the levels, more spells are made available.
The levels are all platform and involve jumping around to reach out of the way items. Most of the spells are designed to move Sabrina around to these hidden areas, but sometimes they're still hard to find. The interface is nicely done, with a handy checklist of items needed for each level that can be accessed with a button, plus a spell book that is displayed on the main screen to be scrolled through for different spells. Moving Sabrina around is a breeze, and there is no inadvertent dying by getting too close to the edges of things, a common problem with children's video games. The levels are very easy, with minimal dying (only by running into the hazardous toys, etc.) and plenty of extra lives and spell points to be picked up. The mini-games are all standard fare for this type of game, such as memory, pong and tetris likes games, but are presented well and are amusing to play. The spells make the otherwise tame levels more interesting, as players try to figure out where they can use the spells and gain entry into hidden places.
Young girls for the most part will enjoy this game, as it's not hard to play and isn't frustrating, as so many of these type games tend to be due to interface problems. The levels are all pretty much the same for the most part, but the different spells make things more interesting. Sabrina herself doesn't look much like her TV counterpart, but players probably won't care. The scenes are welll-drawn and colorful, especially the magic tree, which is quite nice.
My twelve-year-old daughter is enjoying this game, but prefers Sabrina The Animated Series: Zapped! slightly. The best age range is probably for boys and girls ages 6-10, because of the easiness of gameplay. A fun game while it lasts, but replayability may be limited because of the lack of challenge. However, young players will have a good time playing this game and will not be frustrated, always a plus. The levels, while not of any great depth, still are designed well and are short enough to maintain interest. The mini-games are fun to play, and can be played in any order after the game is beat. For parents looking for a non-violent, easy game for their children that is also fun to play, this is a good choice.
Gameplay: 7.5
Easy platform levels that are fairly interesting to play, but don't present enough variety or challenge to elevate this game above average.
Graphics: 8
Bright, vibrant colors and well-drawn scenes provide a pleasant game experience.
Sound: 7
Wholly average sound.
For the most part, this game is very easy and won't present much of a challenge for older players, but young players will have fun.
Concept: 7
Nothing new here.
Overall: 7.6
A game that provides average gameplay, but has a thoughtfully designed interface that is heads above many games of this type for younger players. The mini-games provide added fun.
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Potion Commotion Comments (0)
GameZone Review Detail
| Gameplay | 7.5 |
| Graphics | 8 |
| Sound | 7 |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Concept | 7 |
| Overall | 7.6 |
7.6
GZ Rating
Oh no! Sabrina's Aunt Hilda has miscast a spell again, and it's up to Sabrina to set things right by finding ingredients for a special potion and avoiding hazards created by Aunt Hilda's haywire spell.
Reviewer: Anise Hollingshead
Review Date: 09/24/2002
6.5
ESRB Rating
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