The Secret Saturdays: Beasts Of The 5th Sun Game Review

Reviewed by Noa G. on Sep 28, 2009

Rating:

In the latest game by D3 Publisher, a Cartoon Network fave - The Secret Saturdays - comes alive as a videogame you can play at home.

In the latest game by D3 Publisher, a Cartoon Network fave - The Secret Saturdays - comes alive as a videogame you can play at home.

Show Off

Based on the popular animated cartoon show of the same name, The Secret Saturdays: Beasts Of The 5th Sun features a family of cryptozoologists (scientists who study rare creatures called cryptids). Basically, the Saturday family goes around fighting to protect and hide cryptids – exotic creatures that other human beings want to exploit. The game pretty much continues with the same premise: to save the cryptids before other people get to them.

In the game you get to play the character of Zack Saturday, an 11-year-old super-kid who navigates this 2.5-D action side-scrolling platformer with the help of a big stick, aka an extendable grappling claw. Zack also has the power to control the minds of cryptids and scan them for important information.

Smooth Moves

Whether you’re just platforming or tag-teaming with other members of the Saturday family in combat, trying to fend of enemies, the game runs really smoothly and the controls are super easy to learn. You move Zack around using the joystick, jump with A and, by pressing B in midair, you can use the grappling hook to swing from platform to platform or even reach out-of-the-way destinations by pulling yourself up along it.

In fact, you can even hop into the body of Zack’s family pet-cryptid Fiskerton, who can scale walls and get to more hard-to-reach and out-of-the-way places.

Use the Wiimote to point at any cryptids you run into, either to move them or to control them. Many of these strange creatures can actually help you to advance through the different levels of gameplay, but be careful – some are there to slow you down in your progress or even try to hurt you!

And, if you’re a perfectionist, you can collect fireflies as you make your way through the levels – these will unlock all sorts of goodies for you.

Cartoony & Catchy

We love how this game looks: exactly like the show on TV! The cartoons are wild, vibrant, colorful and fun – it’s easy to recognize the faces of your favorite characters from The Secret Saturdays show.

We also loved how the game offers over 50 crytpids to encounter along the way, including 30 brand-new, game-exclusive cryptids. Plus, the in-game battle arenas that feature the other four members of Zack Saturdays’ family along with their family cryptid pets.