Review by Ian Abbott

If I were a 7 year old girl, this would be the game I’d be begging mammy and poppa for. Based on the set of fashion dolls launched in 2010 pitched at alternative little girls who are inspired by the monsters of Lady Gaga and sharp fanged Twilight gang, the Monster High range is crammed onto the groaning shelves of Toys R Us with merchandise by the bucketful alongside novels and TV shows. This is the vampy girls’ second gaming release as a Nintendo Wii/DS double bill.

Featuring Draculaura, Frankie Stein and Abbey Bominable you can unlock 6 roller skate courses, 12 playable characters and 4 different race modes (race, relay, quick and timed) which I completed in a little less than 4 hours. A track based racing game that owes a huge debt to Mario Kart 64 in structure, design and execution; it takes place on roller skates in and around famous locations like Monster High Stadium and Gloom Beach. I built a team of medium and strong skaters, who were hard to knock over, but took a while to reach their top speed and didn’t take corners very well. With over the knee socks pulled right up and heavy make-up fixed, power ups (like flying books to shoot or mops and buckets spreading slick oil behind) were collected and deployed at regular intervals, leaving an obstacle course in my wake for my fellow high school racers. Each of the 12 characters had special moves that were fun to execute and helped get me back into 1st place; from a flying “Electric Kiss” that lands a green lipsticked smacker on the racer ahead to a “Full Moon” which is a speed boost and not the chance to moon your opponent (this is a family title after all…).Though the new Wii U has arrived, the range of titles is still limited so now is a good time to be seeking out backwards compatible Wii games. Dusting off the Wiimote and nunchuk was fun, although there’s very little leg movement involved (despite this being a roller skating game), lactic acid did start to kick in after three hours. It made me want to lace up my own roller boots and take to the streets though perhaps I’ll give the knee-high socks a miss. The only down side was that the multiplayer option was to race in relay style, rather than against other players simultaneously around the tracks and this felt like a missed opportunity. With a catchy soundtrack, suitable graphics and fun playability it’s the skultimate gaming present for little female monsters.

Monster High Skultimate Roller Maze is out now on Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. PEGI 7