You heard me, I have to turn in my official "Fonzie" badge next week because I could not make a cool looking monster in a game aimed at ten year olds.

You see, it seems that my character (Andy) has a pure heart, and because of that pure heart I was whisked away to Amazing Island through the magic of a book appropriately titled "The Secrets Of The Amazing Island".  That being said, the residents of Amazing Island, The Maboo Tribe have been hoping that one as pure as I (Andy really, personally I'm not that nice) would come to the island and stop the dark magician "Black Evil".  Being that Andy is such a swell eleven year old, he sets off in his quest to free the temporarily possessed Maboo Tribe members and stop Black Evil.   

Did I mention that your main character is eleven years old?  I did, well since most eleven year olds aren't that tough, the Maboo tribe show Andy how to create monsters endowed with Andy's pure heart, in essence, good monsters.  The purpose of these creations is so Andy can morph with them and race around the island competing in different series of events.  The events are essentially mini-games that involve throwing fireballs, running sprints, doing long jumps.  Kind of a monster Olympics if you will.  If you can finish each event with a score that lands you in the top five, then you continue on.  After completing enough events, you eventually will go head to head against a possessed Maboo tribe member.  Beating that member will free him/her from its eviling parasite and return them to the Maboo village.  When you return, the tribe member typically can be spoken to and will advance the game forward.  It is a pretty simple game all around and I felt like I was being led around by my nose.  Not necessarily a bad thing mind you, the game has a younger target audience.  

Nintendo has always been a big fan of bright colors and sweet characters.  Amazing Island is no different.  The game looks like a Saturday morning cartoon fest with sugary cereal heaped on it.  I actually remember thinking that if anything the games visuals are almost too saccharine sweet.  Bright hues jump off the screen, full vibrant colors are everywhere and somebody must have gotten a deal on the color blue at the warehouse.  Very child friendly visuals abound here people.  Monsters are all over in the game and not a single one of them could be called unfriendly looking.  I was reminded of all the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cartoons that my son loves so much.  

The music too is very upbeat and the music that plays in the background seems to keep the game's pace going forward.  Special effect sounds were strong enough, and the explosions and smashes that some of the events elicited came through my speakers effectively.  Actually, I found myself surprised at how some of the sounds worked, a pleasant surprise.

Back to the game, Andy, has completed several tours of the island's game courses and collected various items.  In fact, now Andy can create more monsters and start having his own stable of critters.  Collecting items will help his monster out for certain events, like using the speed icon when readying for a sprint-like event.  It all helps, as I usually found myself finishing 4th or 5th in most events.  Sadly, it seemed to me that there was too much running around between competing in the actual events.  Personally I wished there was more of the games and less of the talking.  

Gameplay: 7.5
It's fairly easy to play, and the button mashing craziness of some of the events reminded me of the old arcade Decathlon games.

Graphics: 7.4
Bright, bright kid friendly graphics.  Not quite cell-shading but very cartoon-like visuals that made me feel like I'd been eating candy all day long.  

Sound: 8.0
It surprised me, the level of noise that was coming out of my surround sound system.  I didn't have 5.1 surround sound but I really liked the thick sound that came out of my front speakers.  

Difficulty: Medium
Surprisingly, it is quite difficult to take first place in the events that pop up.  You never really feel lost since the game isn't very complicated, but I'll be dipped if I just could not finish a course with all first place finishes.  Good luck.

Concept: 7.9
Years ago, there was a game made called Mail Order Monsters where you got to design a monster and add all sorts of DNA additions and weapons.  The game reminded me of that on some base levels and made me long for a game like this that was aimed more at older gamers.

Multiplayer: 7.0
You can have friends over and go head to head in the 30 mini-games that are available, but chances are, you will tire of them after an hour.  The originality of the games seems to repeat itself after a while and in reality only about half of them are desired.

Overall: 7.1
While the sum of the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts, the game has some good qualities that kids will enjoy.  The game is creation driven and making new goofy monsters will appeal to most and the sport like games will please those parents who want a less violent title for their young children.