Nerd Mentality

Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc

Posted April 10th 2006 by Daisy Garcia.

If you've ever seen the hit Disney television show, Lizzie McGuire, you're no doubt aware that during the show there are little snippets featuring an animated Lizzie making comments about whatever mishap is running amok in her reality. This animated Lizzie is the main character in the third installment of the Buena Vista game Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc for the Game Boy Advance.

When I first opened up the package that contained the game, I giggled at the prospect of shipping it off to one of our illustrious staff writers. Our male staff writers. The marketing of Homecoming Havoc to young, female gamers is glaring. From the fuschia and orange cover featuring a smiling Hilary Duff clad in Lizzie garb to the back featuring a pink boa'ed animated Lizzie and a "hug card", I figured I'd forgo decimating the staff's testosterone levels by reviewing it myself. So I ripped off the plastic in girlish glee and popped the game into my DS. After seeing the pastel flowered startup screen, I knew my decision was not completely selfish. This is definitely your little sister's game.

First off you get to choose one of three profiles to a very poppy/techno beat. Your choices are "Soo Awesome!", "The Coolest!", and "Super Great!". Better break out those pom pom's from yesteryear, because this game is super cheery. Once you choose which peppy profile you are going to play under, you get to decide whether you're going to play in Competition mode, test yourself in Trials, check out some of the super cute Prizes, or read the credits of who actually made the game. So I went into Competition mode first, which brought me to a highschool scenario in front of a row of bright orange lockers, just as a schoolbell is ringing. The animated Lizzie McGuire appears on screen walking towards the lockers when her arch nemesis, Head Cheerleader Kate, approaches her. Kate makes some snide comments of Lizzie's rumored Homecoming Queen run, insinuating that it would be a waste of time for the innocent Lizzie to even try, since Kate is queen of the school. Such harsh words force Lizzie to throw her hat into the ring, just so Kate won't win it.

This little conversation brings you into Scene 1 of the competition. Homecoming Havoc is filled with over 100 micro games, sort of like the ones seen in Wario Ware. You get four chances throughout each level to pass each one of the microgames. Some of these microgames are ridiculously easy, but when you stop and think about how the game is probably for a bunch of 8 year-old girls, it makes a lot of sense. But whereas Wario Ware acts as the ultimate reflex test by giving no warning or clue as to what the proposed mission actually entails, in Homecoming Havoc you are told at the beginning of each microgame what type of direction you will need. "Aim It" launches items, "Avoid" is pretty self-explanatory wherein you have to avoid some sort of obstacle, "Counterbalance" just has you tapping the control pad to balance the object on screen, "In-Motion" involves an object either falling or otherwise moving, putting it to you to direct it safely to its destination, "Multi-Move" simply means you have to move while some other direction is needed, "Multi-Tap" means you, duh, tap the A button more than once, "Rapid-Tap" is self-explantory, "Time-Tap" means hitting a button at a precise moment, "Do-It" can be any multi move or in motion game and "Hodgepodge" can be any of the above.

Whenever you pass a round, you see a cheering Lizzie with her arms thrown up excitedly into the air as a monarch butterfly passes by her face, while an unseen audience cheers. Fail a round and a super sad Lizzie, accompanied by a background of what I assume are teardrops, covers the screen while that same unseen audience gives a disappointed "aww!" Round after round, you play these highly addictive, lighthearted games with a bonus round thrown in. Each stage features two types of bonus rounds: a Friendship Round and a Stumble Round. Win the Friendship Round and you add Tokens, Points, and extra chances to play in case the four they give you at the beginning isn't enough. The Stumble Round will only earn you Tokens and Points. The Tokens are used to purchase these collectible cards, which can be utilized if need be if you lose a game. Sort of a "Get out of Jail Free" card. There is a card for every type of game, ranging in cost of tokens.

At the end of each stage you reach the Dance Competition. These dance competitions were the whole reason why I kept playing the game, even after beating it. Like in the fabulous Dance Dance Revolution games, you are given directions as to which dance step you need to perform. But you have to wait until the yellow directional arrows reach the outlined box or you'll miss a step. The evil Kate is perched above the dance bar, to leer and snicker at you if you mess up, but if you don't she sobs like a little girl! You only have to reach the red line to win the round, but if you haven't messed up by then, the game continues for a few faster steps, indicated by red arrows. If you've completed your dance with perfection you are rewarded with at least three bonus tokens. The higher the stage's dance competiton, the the higher the tempo, faster the dance moves, and the more tokens you can receive.

The microgames repeat a few times throughout the stages, which can be pretty irritating, but the good news is that if you've failed at one earlier, chances are you'll get to give it another go. The back of the box cover sugests that all of Lizzie's friends join the fun in the games, but the only friend I saw was miniature Gordo, who appeared anytime there was a microgame featuring a ice cream. Lizzie's little brother is the only real character that appears in a multitude of games, where he's generally being hit with a pillow or having the windows shut on him. Her best friend, Miranda, never appears in the game, although maybe she just wasn't in the microgames I played. Painting a whiteheaded Lizzie suggests that she may very well not be a natural golden blonde and there are a few different microgames featuring Miss McGuire in the bathtub with her little yellow rubber ducky. One of such games features some oddly placed whirlpools that you must navigate your ducky through, but I'd rather think those whirlpools were just jetstreams than anything vulgar. Falling frogs that you must dodge are a little too Magnoliaesque and the picture taking by the unseen photographer was a tad on the weird side, but for the most part the microgames are very highschool life oriented. Changing into a rather unbecoming outfit as fast as possible, navigating a remote control car through a messy room, avoiding your annoying little brother and applying some lipstick and curling your hair aren't exactly thrill seeking adventures, but they can be fun. Snapping a pic of your Prince Charming through a heartshaped lens may seem a little stalkerish, but it's all in good fun as he poses and flashes a cheesy smile.

At the end of the competition game, Prince Charming is seen onstage ready to announce the new Homecoming Queen as Kate rushes the stage to thank everyone. An oversized hook, ala Showtime at the Apollo, pulls the spoiled brat offstage as Lizzie takes the spotlight. The Trials stage is pretty much the same as the Competition stage, except that you are given no directions. The best way to win these is to have played through the Competition Round first, since it's just a repeat of basically the same microgames. This part of the game tests your memory of what you played earlier, but it's still remarkably easy. I've played through Homecoming Havoc at least ten times now and each time I've played nearly the same games, with one or two new ones thrown in each time.

This game gets an N-Philes score of B-.

Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc is definitely not for the serious, hardcore gamer. It's a youthful and entertaining way to fill some time; I happily played through it while doing laundry the other day and found that time just flew by. The animation is nice, but some of the movements of characters look like they belong on an old timey computer, such as the opening scene with the lockers and the end scene on the stage. For the most part, though, it's all pretty well done. The Dance Competitions are entertaining to say the least, but there is only so much fun one can have playing a dancing microgame on a handheld. This is definitely a game for girls, but I think that a few guys could enjoy it as well if they can forgive the insane girlishness that runs rampant throughout every round. I'm not sure if too many guys would be all that excited about playing Cupid by shooting Lizzie's Prince Charming with a bow and arrow to make him fall in love with her, but it's still pretty amusing from my perspective.

Posted in: Reviews

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