I loved Enid Blyton’s tales as a child. I absorbed everything about them from the Famous Five, Secret Seven and even Malory Towers despite not being an overly girly child. Somehow I don’t remember ever reading the Adventure Series though but Flips: Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series was the perfect opportunity for me to catch up.
The entire Adventure series is here, all 8 books in one handy DS cartridge. The titles feature Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann who, along with their pet parrot Kiki, manage to always get caught up in various adventures. Whether it be inadvertently getting onto the wrong plane or having to search for lost treasure, there’s always something afoot to make their life more thrilling.
The general format is the same as previous Flips titles. You navigate each book with the stylus, control pad or scroll bar. Throughout each tale are various collectibles, in this case jigsaw pieces. As these books are aimed at slightly older children than Too Ghoul for School or Mr Gum, there are also a number of quizzes dotted around each book to make sure that the reader is paying attention.
There’s got to be a point to these collectibles though, right? This time round the jigsaw pieces and successful quiz completions help players solve a puzzle that is available alongside each book. It’s a simple gimmick but everyone likes a reward for achieving something, no doubt it’ll give children an extra reason to keep reading.
The books themselves come across as quite dated by modern standards but that’s not surprising really considering the youngest book, The River of Adventure, is 55 years old. The illustrations are appealing though. I know my 9 year old cousin adores Enid Blyton’s stories so there’s certainly still a market for this type of traditional storytelling.
Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series could have possibly done with some extra interactive elements as collectibles felt quite spread out and few in number. As interactive e-books though the game works well. The Flips series might seem bafflingly to older gamers but anything that encourages kids to continue reading has to be a good thing.
VideogameUK verdict: 8/10
