Bluey: The Videogame Review: For Little Ones Mostly

Chances are you’ve heard about Bluey even if you don’t have young kids. This Australian cartoon about a Blue Heeler puppy named Bluey, her sister Bingo, and their parents Chilli and Bandit has taken the world by storm over the past few years. With its playful spirit, heartwarming family stories, and hilarious everyday adventures, Bluey captures the imaginations of preschoolers and parents alike across more than 60 countries. No wonder it became an international phenomenon almost overnight!

So it comes as no surprise that developers have brought Bluey and her family into the world of video games. In Bluey: The Videogame by Artax Games, players can directly control the characters they love while exploring familiar locations like the Heeler house and backyard. Through four 10-15 minute animated episodes, the game weaves a lighthearted treasure hunt tale filled with nods and references for true Bluey fans. There’s even the option for up to four players to join in the fun together with local split-screen multiplayer.

It all sounds incredibly charming, but does Bluey: The Videogame truly live up to the charm and imagination of the iconic show? We’ll find out in this review as we take a deeper look at the gameplay, charm, appeal, and more from this new family-friendly adventure. By the end, hopefully we’ll know whether Bluey fans should add this title to their collections!

A Family-Friendly Adventure, But Ultimately Basic Gameplay

When it comes to gameplay, Bluey: The Videogame keeps things simple for its preschool target audience. Players use an intuitive control scheme – moving with the left stick, and just two buttons for running and interacting. As Bluey, Bingo, Mum, or Dad, there’s no complex combos or skill trees to worry about. The focus stays squarely on lighthearted, cozy fun rather than challenge.

That focus revolves around locating and collecting items throughout familiar Bluey locations to drive the story forward. Whether it’s gather up toys scattered around the house or forage for treasure map pieces left behind at the creek, players will reenact activities and adventures they’ve seen on the show. The same goes for side tasks like watering plants to help them fully bloom. It’s all brought to life nicely with playful animations and references fans will appreciate.

Spread over four brief episodes of 10-15 minutes each, the main story arc sets up a treasure hunt for a map Bandit buried long ago with his childhood friends. It tries tying things together better than your average collect-a-thon, but there’s no denying the repetitive “find this object” core loop underlying each episode. At least the story provides excuses to explore new areas like the playground and beach later on.

For a dash of variety, finishing story activities unlocks four pared-down mini-games as well – Keepy Uppy, The Floor is Lava platforming challenge, musical freeze tag in Magic Xylophone, and a basic chase sequence with Chattermax. These offer mild entertainment for 5-10 minutes, but don’t expect much depth or replay value. Mostly, they’re placeholders mimicking moments from the show itself rather than fully-featured experiences.

One highlight lies in local co-op multiplayer, letting up to four friends or family play together on the couch. Kids can get help from parents, or simply revel in the chaotic fun. Sweet touches like giving piggyback rides make it accommodating for littler ones still learning to move characters or cameras smoothly. Still, the objectives remain unchanged in co-op – it just makes the collecting more social.

So while Bluey: The Videogame nails the show’s enchanting personality through characters, visuals, and references, the gameplay fundamentals stay simple and even repetitive. This keeps things friendly for younger audiences, but leaves older players wanting more.

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Loving Recreation of Bluey’s Distinctive Look and Feel

Right from the main menu, Bluey: The Videogame beautifully captures the vibrant, chunky aesthetic of the beloved source material. The development team at Artax Games has crafted the game using Unity, but you’d be forgiven for thinking the cartoon itself had been translated seamlessly into a 3D interactive space. The visual presentation looks like it leapt straight from an episode of Bluey while retaining the charm and whimsy that has captivated millions of fans.

The game’s four key locations – the Heeler House, the neighborhood playground, the nearby creek, and beach – all resemble their TV counterparts with a meticulous attention to detail. The Heeler’s home brims with subtle touches like Bandit’s oil paintings and familiar clutter across every room. Outdoors, playground fixtures like the iconic pineapple-shaped rocket slide are modeled faithfully alongside lush natural environments. Players who have soaked up every episode will delight at rediscovering these places fully realized in the game.

On top of the settings, the Heeler family themselves steal the show as always with their emotive character models and animations mirroring the show’s signature look. Iconic movements and mannerisms for each family member appear in full force, from Bluey’s wiggly tail when excited to Bingo’s adorable little bounces. Seeing their fluid movements side-by-side with the game’s cutscenes really emphasizes how well the developers managed to convert the 2D cartoon style into the title’s 3D playable spaces.

However, that otherwise seamless transition does falter slightly when it comes to characters’ facial animations. Rigid jaw and mouth movements look slightly awkward, lacking the squishy expressiveness and comedic exaggeration from the hand-drawn animation. It stands out given how smoothly the rest of their bodies emulate the show’s famously bouncy, energetic style. Still, it’s a relatively small blemish for players caught up enjoying all the spot-on references and gags carried over from their favorite episodes.

And filling those episodes – not to mention the game itself – with as much heart and humor as always, the voice talent behind the whole Heeler clan reprise their roles wonderfully here as well. Their stellar performances lend so much warmth and authenticity that you can’t help but grin hearing them sound exactly as you’d expect. It lets the characters’ endearing personas shine through, making it feel like playing through a brand new set of Bluey adventures. Between the audio and visual presentation, the developers check all the right boxes to hit that sweet nostalgic spot for Bluey lovers hungry to jump back into that world.

Enough For a Playdate, But Don’t Expect Long-Term Value

Given Bluey: The Videogame’s full asking price between $40-60 USD, parents would reasonably hope for an experience that could entertain their children for more than just a single weekend playsession. After all, other family-friendly adventures often offer dozens of hours of content unlocking new areas or gameplay styles over time. But as we quickly discovered, this visit to the Heeler household unfortunately lacks that kind of longevity or variety for all but the most diehard Bluey superfans.

Across the four brief story episodes, players can expect to see credits roll in around 60-90 minutes even when taking time to explore for collectibles or stickers. Completionists may be able to stretch that to 2 hours by fully scouring every nook and cranny afterwards too. But no matter your pace, it becomes obvious soon that the team focused squarely on recreating a slice of Bluey’s world rather than packing in months’ worth of activities.

Side content like the pared-down minigames and free play mode merely reinforce that lack of depth rather than provide fresh fun. None offer deep mechanics or unlockable elements to incentivize replay, instead staying simple as temporary quick fixes when your young one needs a change of pace. The same goes for collectibles, dressing up characters, or decorating the sticker book pages — fun extras, but lacking hooks to maintain interest in the long run.

Realistically, the only players who will stay fully engaged after those first couple hours are the core target audience of Bluey’s preschooler demograhic. Thanks to their fierce love of the characters, little kids can find joy simply wandering around familiar settings or repeating the same 5-minute activities out of pure roleplaying enjoyment. Parents may lose steam quickly when the gameplay loop proves shallow, but your personal Bluey and Bingo will gladly make their own fun!

For most fans though, Bluey: The Videogame shapes up nicely for a quick weekend rental or playdate rather than a purchase promising months of family fun. Unless newer content comes via DLC down the road, even young fans captivated at first will likely move onto the next game sooner than you’d hope given the asking price. Manage expectations around a few lovely afternoons rather than a long-term investment.

Charming At First Glance, But Lacking In Depth or Creativity

Given the immense popularity of the Bluey cartoon, it comes as no surprise that developers sought to bring the loveable Heeler family into the world of video games. And at first glance, Bluey: The Videogame delivers exactly what fans could hope for – a chance to directly control their favorite characters within the vibrant, playful universe they adore. Between the authentic audio-visual presentation and charming references to the show, Artax Games nails translating Bluey’s personality and whimsy into interactive form.

However, that initial magic starts to wear thin fast when players dive deeper into the actual gameplay and variety on offer. The repetitive core loop of locating and collecting items with little player input becomes stale incredibly quickly. Whether you’re picking up toys or map pieces, too much of the 10-15 minute playtime per episode revolves around incredibly straightforward fetch quests rather than meaningful interactivity.

Not helping matters is the miniscule scope of content available at launch. With brief episodes, just a handful of basic mini-games, and sparse locations devoid of characters beyond the core Heelers, the game lacks the spirit of adventure so central to the show’s DNA. Fans accustomed to hilarious situational comedy and thoughtful storytelling around family dynamics will leave disappointed by the largely substance-less gameplay framing the experience.

There is undoubtedly an audience who won’t care about those shortcomings – namely younger children simply eager to play as Bluey, Bingo and friends. The target demographic will still eat up the chance to exist in this beloved world they know so well from TV. But for older fans, or parents judging the experience on its merits as a modern video game, Bluey: The Videogame distinctly lacks innovation, depth, or long-term enjoyment compared to other family titles on the market.

What could have been a platform for continuing Bluey’s signature tales as delightful interactive escapades instead ends up a disappointingly soulless collect-a-thon trading mostly on affection for the license. The development team lavished attention on cosmetic elements like graphics and sound design to echo the show, but came up utterly short on gameplay substance to match Bluey’s signature heart and charm. There’s still fun here for young children, but hardly enough creativity to deserve the Bluey name.

A Heartfelt But Surface-Level Leap Into Bluey’s World

At the end of the day, Bluey: The Videogame is a mixed bag full of both childlike joy and mild disappointment. Developer Artax Games should absolutely be lauded for perfectly capturing the enchanting look and feel of the treasured Australian cartoon so many families have come to love over the past few years. From the colorful, chunky environments to the fluid character animations and models, plus the excellent voice acting, this feels like a big warm hug welcoming Bluey fans back into that special world full of imagination and playtime. Parents and kids alike will crack huge smiles hearing the Heeler family deliver new lines just like the episodes they’ve watched a dozen times over.

However, underneath that cosmetic layer true to the show lies a fairly hollow game at its core once the initial honeymoon period wears off. Uninspired “collect the objects” gameplay with repetitive menial tasks loses appeal quickly even with familiar activities and locales to connect with. The mini-games offer temporary reprieve, but still lack depth or variety to carry the short main story episodes. Ultimately it’s a disappointment given the incredibly clever situations and valuable lessons about emotional intelligence woven through the source cartoon.

So who is Bluey: The Videogame actually meant for in the end? Children around 5-8 years old in love with the characters will undoubtedly have a blast simply getting to play as the characters they know and love. Meanwhile, parents and older fans will likely find the experience lacking. Unless you’re obsessed with the show or need to occupy the kids’ attention for a couple hours, it may not be worthwhile at full retail price. But for little ones begging to explore the world of Bluey further after the credits roll on each episode, this should still scratch that itch – even if we know the magic of the show itself remains out of reach.