High School Musical: DVD Game (DVD)

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What time is it? Game time! And that includes HSM 3, too.

Like the "Hannah Montana DVD Game," this one is structured so that 1-4 players can enjoy six games, but you need 2-4 players for two of the games and four or more for three "party games." But don't expect hand-held computer-game graphics or multi-level challenges. These games are the kind you typically get in bonus features on movie DVDs. Only in this little package you get nothing but games--11 of them.

In terms of its design and game quality, "High School Musical DVD Game" is pretty comparable to the "Hannah Montana" version. The graphics probably could have been better in a few instances, and certainly there's room for improvement in the response time-in the main trivia game, for example, it's nine seconds from the time you click on your answer until the moment the next question is asked-but all in all this is a nice package for the target audience. And you know who you are, you grade schoolers, junior high students, and older closet fans who secretly have a crush on Troy (Zac Effron) or Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens).

East High Graduation Challenge is the main trivia game for 1-4 players. Each player selects a character to play with: Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), or Ryan (Lucas Grabeel). Then its on to the questions, some of which are based on clips from the movies, some based on who-said-this quotes, and some on just plain you-ought-to-know-this trivia. Some of the questions are embarrassingly simple. I mean, what age would you have to be to miss this question: Which of these outfits would you wear for graduation? A) Cap and gown, B) Sweats and sneakers, C) Bathing suit, or D) Ball gown? Think hard now! Most of the questions are tougher than that, thankfully, but you do get the occasional clunker. And some of the clips have really unnatural-looking flesh tones, a little heavy on the orange. As with the Hannah game, you have to be kind of sly about making your answer selections, because someone watching can figure out which answer to guess based on whether a green check or red x is highlighted after you make your choice. The game runs for 20 questions, and at 10 a character icon appears to let you know who's in the lead.

Wildcats Tryouts is a basketball game that my seven year old liked, but it's awfully hard not to put the ball in the hoop. An arrow rises, and you need to click "enter" at the precise moment when it's at 12:00, because that's where the hoop is. You can choose from short, medium, or long-range shots, but because the needle is so forgiving (you can click on 11:00 or 1:00 and still get the points) and because the shot is always straight-on from the free-throw line or top of the key, it really makes no sense to choose a short shot for one possible point or a medium-range shot for two possible points. Go for the three-pointer. My seven year old tied me at this. Pretty tough to lose. But there's something mesmerizing about the ball going into a little hoop if you're a little kid--and this game is strictly for the tikes.

Yearbook Memory Game is a more difficult version of the memory games that preschoolers commonly play. Here, you take a look at a grid of nine HSM faces (3 down, 3 across) and memorize their positions. Then the pictures disappear and you have to remember where each individual person was. If you're doing this alone you get three misses, but if you play the game with two or more people all you get is one miss. That's pretty sad if you only have two players, because then the game continues while the surviving player keeps guessing until the whole grid is completed. This one is better with at least three players.

Career Finder Quiz matches up with the personality test you get on Disney DVDs as of late--you know, which character are you most like?--but this one puts you in a high school guidance counselor's office to answer one of four possible quizzes designed to have them tell you what your occupation should be. My daughter, who loves dance and performing, but also loves animals, was told she should be a zookeeper. Me, I was told I should be a teacher--which is convenient, since that's what I do.