Princess Debut - Nintendo DS

What "Princess Debut" lacks in narrative substance it pretty much makes up for in sheer eye-squeezing cuteness, and in the end that was all I was really after when I bought it, though the kawaii factor may not be enough to justify this skim game's price where most gamers above its target age demographic are concerned. (I'll be honest, it was that damn cute cover that lured me in. Call it an inspired Out-Of-Character purchase.) Fortunately, the actual non-story related gameplay, although slim pickin's, really isn't half bad.What you have in your hands here is basically a run-of-the-mill dating sim (albeit a fairly 'lite' example--scratch that, very lite) built around a framework of power-leveling through various stylus tracing exercises, or "dances". The entire package is pretty obviously geared toward young girls (as if the box artwork and weren't a clue), and by young I mean little, as the dating sim aspects of "Princess Debut" make it pretty easy avoid floundering, and honestly, the characters really aren't as interesting as I'd hoped they would be. I imagined something along the lines of a young 'tween-oriented narrative (I dig their manga), but what the game delivers is ultimately more along the lines of being for a "just grew out of Nick Jr." crowd. The Story Mode consists of a mere 30 days and can easily be completed in one sitting, which is probably a good thing since unlocking everything is going to involve multiple plays through. There don't seem very many unlockables, however, as I fetched half of them through my first campaign, and with five princes yet to woo me it seems very doubtful that the old "Need To Unlock Things" can sustain me through enough campaigns to earn every ending.Thankfully, the game's core--the dancing--is actually pretty addicting. While the first few dances are an insult to anyone with developed motor skills, they soon ramp up into pretty decent challenges that will keep you on your toes--er, fingers--stylus--wait, no, toes was good enough. I found myself replaying dances over and over again 1. because I had no choice :P and 2. because the old-fashioned Call of a Higher Score proved just potent enough to make me want to. As what in a meatier package would probably be considered a minigame, the dancing is able to keep the entire ship afloat just enough for it to avoid being a complete disappointment, thereby reserving this game's place in the ol' travel bag.All in all, "Princess Debut" is about as good as I expected it to be; my standards weren't that high, and it therefore didn't falter. While I was somewhat disappointed by the one aspect that I most looked forward to--the Story Mode--I was admittedly pretty pleased with the dancing, which was at first just an afterthought for me. If you translate game prices into movie ticket fares and then compare the hours of entertainment derived from each, I'd say I got my money's worth.

Though I'm usually a more serious gamer playing intense games like L4D, Team Fortress, Civ 4, Jrpgs, etc, occasionally I like to get in touch with my girly side. If you're familiar with the Japanese Dating Sim genre, this is a dating sim meant for girls (or people who imagine themselves in place of the main character). It runs like a Princess Maker meets Meine Liebe meets Japanese visual novel, and the real "gameplay" is based off an engine seeming similar to Elite Beat Agents.So was it fun? If you like anime/manga style, harem choices, reading through text, collecting cute outfits, and rhythm tapping games, you'll love it. Even after you've finished playing through the main storyline, there's a "Ballroom Mode" for those who only want to play with the rhythm tapping aspect. The only grind is playing through the main storyline again and again to collect all the items and see the different princes' endings--but that's expected. Still, it would have been nice if they changed the story up a bit more if we played through for different characters. Also, the music in this game is cute.It's too bad this game didn't get much marketing visibility among anime/Japanese-interest gamers. I know of a lot of female anime fans who are actually looking for a game of this type to be ported to US shores. I saw this game only once at my local Fry's and then never again, and I only learnt about this game through Amazon.

This game is really good. I mean of course it's fun to play, the story isn't CRAZY AMAZING but it sure does make a bunch of WTF moments. I love the gameplay, However sometimes it gets a little redundant when you play the whole day.. Don't overplay and you'll definitely get over the game within a couple days, like I did. It was worth the 15 bucks and sure was worth my time. I got this because I needed back up a little off the really mind blowing, gore filled, Rated M for a reason games. I needed to get ready for school and what else but to calm my self with a greatly beautiful game and DAMN are the decisions hard at times. I would DEFINITELY recommend this game, which I already have. Only one downfall, I would prefer better looking art however that's what happens when you only settle for the best and down grade a little. HAPPY DANCING GUYS!

I just recived this game friday an I am already addicted. Yes I am a male, yes this is girly game but if you like Sprung or any dating sims that you find on the internet you'll like it. However unlike the internet sims there is no sex(The game has an E rating people) but that shouldn't stop anyone from playing it.You play as Sabrina(You can change her name, my girl's name is Sarah named after Sarah Brightman) a girl looking for a prince in the real world when she meets an alternate version of herself who is a princess who has run away because she can't dance and a ball is coming up in a month! She immidately cons you into going to her world and suddenly you are caught up in whirlwind romances with princes from other kingdoms.The dancing is not hard to do, in fact as a rhythim game it is easier to play than elite beat agents(I hate music games because of that game!) and it offers multiple modes other than story mode.All in all this is a wonderful game for girls and boys who are hopless romantics at heart.

great