Bella Sara (Nintendo DS)

...for the Nintendo DS game, Bella Sara, developed by Hidden City Games and published by Codemasters. Bella Sara is a trading card game for children where you have to befriend and trade your own horses and go adventuring.

The game involves collecting and trading cards, and after you acquire a certain number, then you are given a horse to look after, to go riding on and generally look after. You gain cards by looking after horses, and you ...
...been put in to making Bella Sara be varied with lots of different ways to explore the game.

The controls are easy to pick up and the game is fun for children to play straight away. It’s only really suitable for girls, really of about three to nine years of ages, but this age group is likely to find enough in the game to make it fun for them for a while. The game does become a bit repetitive after a while however, as there isn’t enough ... more

This review is for the Nintendo DS game, Bella Sara, developed by Hidden City Games and published by Codemasters. Bella Sara is a trading card game for children where you have to befriend and trade your own horses and go adventuring.

The game involves collecting and trading cards, and after you acquire a certain number, then you are given a horse to look after, to go riding on and generally look after. You gain cards by looking after horses, and you need to keep finding these cards throughout the game if you want to unlock more horses.

Once your horse is ready, you can choose between three different courses to take your new horse for a ride. The routes are all different, and you can only initially get a certain way along each route, as you require both experience and more trading cards to be able to progress further along each route.

There are also mini games throughout the game, all of which can be completed to be able to progress even further through the game. Everything is easy for kids to understand, and some effort has been put in to making Bella Sara be varied with lots of different ways to explore the game.

The controls are easy to pick up and the game is fun for children to play straight away. It’s only really suitable for girls, really of about three to nine years of ages, but this age group is likely to find enough in the game to make it fun for them for a while. The game does become a bit repetitive after a while however, as there isn’t enough different types of game play to have real long-term interest.

The graphics and sound are both actually quite good, and it’s nice to see that short-cuts haven’t been taken just because the game is written for children. The sound effects and background music especially do add some atmosphere to the game.

The web-site of the game does have some extra features, and you can access these using the card and details which come with the game. These extras do add value to the game, and it’s an interesting touch that maybe other developers could take advantage of. Indeed, this game actually came from the web-site of the same name, so it shows that there is space for both on-line gaming and the more traditional console gaming.

The game retails for 24.99 pounds, but is currently available on Amazon for 12.99 pounds. If you’re happy with a second hand copy, at the time of writing, these are available for just over five pounds on sites such as eBay and Amazon. The game is rated as 3+, so is suitable for children of most ages.

In summary, this game isn’t bad for kids, but is likely to have only limited interest. The game is only suitable for girls as the avatars at the beginning of the game have no options for boys, which is possibly a mistake. It’s an easy game for youngsters to pick up and play, and thought has been put into this. Overall it does become a bit repetitive, but it’s fun for a while.

(also on dooyoo under same name)
 

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