Customer Reviews

Alvin & the Chipmunks

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Review is for the Wii version:

Alvin & the Chipmunks is a rhythm game that tries to drive you insane quickly but is fun for the whole family. You will need both a wii-mote & the nunchuck to play single player, and an extra pair for head to head.

In story mode, each stage has the chipmunks playing 3 songs which must be played though to advance to the next locale.
Rhythm 'stars' flow out from the center of the screen to one of the four corners where a larger star waits as the precision point. If the stars flow to one of the bottom corners you will swing the remotes, if they go to the top you will hold 'b' & swing for right stars and 'z' and swing for left. Miss too many in a row the song ends, but the more you hit perfectly the more combo points you rack up which will unlock new stages and bonus songs.

This seemed easy enough for me, I mean it's a chipmunk game geared towards kids right? I'm 30 and pretty good at rhythm games but was surprised at the challenge of this game. Don't get me wrong, this is a very fun game once you give it like an hour to sink in you can open new stages with ease which will give you more songs to play, but to master the tracks is a bigger task.
The rhythm stars aren't perfect mapped to the beat IMHO. At times they do follow the beat, though they go freestyle a lot of the time reversing patterns and generally trying to frustrate you. This is not a bad thing at all as it's fast pacing will keep players on their toes and their pulse racing.

You can play thru the game in Easy, Med or Hard mode with Easy focusing on just the swinging motion of the remotes which still holds a challenge for experienced rhythm gamers yet is passable and fun for my 4 year old that has never played a rhythm game.

I think this games a blast and has definite replay value.
The soundtrack is filled with pop favorites that most people will recognize from commercials, pop radio & tv shows(Friends) as well as the Chipmunks own Christmas hit all performed by the Chipmunks!

If you're looking for a fun but still challenging alternative to Guitar Hero then this is it. The songs are clean & fun and the game play is great for all ages.

I did have to take off one star because of the cutscenes in between the game levels. The audio of the conversations between Dave & the Chipmunks is horrible and scratchy but is easily bypassed by pressing the A button. Again it's just the cutscenes, Not the songs in gameplay. Those are A+.

I cannot believe anyone would give this game a good rating, unless they've never played it. My 7 year old was so excited to get this game and even he immediately became aware of how lame it is. He paid $50 for it out of his Christmas gift card for GameStop. So sad. All you do is the same repetitive movement of clicking and shaking the WII remote when the star reaches the circle - this is THE EXACT SAME MOVEMENT as you move from level to level. The chipmunks are playing in the background. You never get to interact and there is no real story line. You don't even have to do it on beat so there is no real rhythm to it either. Also the cut scenes are cartoon stills with no movement, just voices. It's shockingly uncreative and repetitive - there is no fun or challenge or motivation to move to the next level, it's the same as the previous one. I'm suprised a video company can get away with producing this kind of toy. I will never buy a video game created by Sensory Sweep or Brash Entertainment again.

My 2 year old son LOVES the chipmunks movie so I got this for him and his sister (and me too), The first time playing it was a little confusing. I tried it again and did the instructional part. That was hard. When I went into the story game, I figured it out. It DOES go on the beat for about 90% of the time. The songs are cute and up to date. I can't stop playing it cause it's cute and fun!! I think I may get guitar hero for my husband for V-day or something. This is like a beginner/introduction to guitar hero I think.

Once you get past the chipmunks singing, the game is a blast! I bought it on sale and did not have a clue what it was about. I thought my 3yr old would get a kick out it. Once we started playing his 13yr old brothers took over. They have been waiting for to get Guitar Hero III and this has filled the wait.
The songs are actually great...regardless of the chipmunk singing! And you get so into the drumming that you barely notice. It is also entertaining to watch.
The head to head duel is a lot of fun. I hope that some one creates a Drummer Hero!
It show cases why the WII is so innovative, and fun for the whole family. I would like to see you physically drum on PSIII or Xbox!!

I bought this game when it was on sale several weeks ago for[...] I bought it as a Christmas present for my 4-year-old who LOVES Alvin and the Chipmunks. Unfortunately, it is a little advanced for him. I had a hard enough time trying to figure it out ... and I'm still on the easy level which only involves matching 2 of the 4 stars.

Unfortunately, I am finding that many Wii games I would think should be on a young enough level for my 4-year-old are too difficult.

It REALLY bugs me that the stars don't hit their target on beat a lot of the time. So it can be a bit a frustrating when you're getting into the rhythm of the song and the stars don't match.

I do, however, enjoy playing this game. And my husband and I love the Chipmunks singing and the songs they sing. So it's not annoying to us.

It's definitely worth the [...] I paid for it. And is a nice way to start our Wii game collection (we just got a Wii for Christmas).

I don't think I'd pay [...] or more for it though.

*** Edited to add that although my son can't play, he enjoys watching us play. He picks up his guitar and strums along with the music while dancing to the beat. On several ocassions he's asked me or my husband to play the game so he can dance and sing along too!

The other negative reviewers are right. This is a really crummy game, just the same motion again and again. The Chipmunks music is fun, but there isn't any real interaction with the characters, and all you do is push a button on the wiimote or the nunchuk as a star passes a target. My 9 year old son was bored after about 2 songs and hasn't played it again. Really just a piece of shovelware junk that I wouldn't recommend to anybody else.

I bought this for a 4 year old, he gets very frustrated with it and no longer wants to play. I was thinking this was more on the lines of the Hannah Montana game, you just have to do the arm moves no buttons to push with certain shapes. This game you have to hold buttons for the top and release for the bottom. I'm sure with practice my son would get the hang of it but if you miss the beat the game ends and you have to start over. He just doen't have the patience. Looks like alot of fun, but I would say it's for older kids with more hand eye control.

Video games based on movies are notoriously bad. They are often rush jobs that aim to exploit consumers' interest in upcoming exciting movies. Almost every kids movie and almost every movie made for semi-grown-up kids seems to have one of these "movie tie-in games," and the critics usually pan these games. However, Alvin and the Chipmunks is beyond just being a bad game...it's pathetic. It's the sort of thing you might expect to be a free flash-based game on the movie's official website, certainly there is not enough content to warrant a full-price, retail game. The game basically consists of you waggling the wii controllers while Alvin & Co. play a Chipmunk-ized version of a pop-hit in the background. Your waggling doesn't really match any particular part of the song (sometimes it's the melody, sometimes the rhythm, sometimes it doesn't really sync up with anything). Basically, just waggle the remote and you'll win; some people have argued that it's ok that the game is so easy because it's for children. But, this isn't even a game; it's barely interactive. And, that a poor justification: so many kids can leap fearlessly into far more complex games where their parents would fear to play.

And while you're waggling the wii controls and trying to match your waggles to the seemingly random indicators in the foreground (it really doesn't matter much if you match them or not), the "animation" of the chipmunks in the background is EXACTLY the same, regardless of the song you're playing, for each of the stages. But, the in-song animations, as generic and irrelevant to the actual gameplay as the programmers let them be, are still miles beyond the visuals in the "story mode" of the game. In the story mode, the player just has to watch a polaroid-style still photograph while the characters talk through the plot. The Alvin in the Chipmunks game is barely interactive, and was obviously a hastily thrown together product aimed to exploit the devotion of young fans. What a shame. For a better experience with simple, accessible, family-friendly rhythm games try other Wii games like Samba de Amigo (super cheap on Amazon!) or Rayman Raving Rabbids.

I would have to say that I was a little disappointed with this game. I bought it for my 4 1/2 year old who can't seem to stay on the stage. I guess for the amount that I paid it's OK. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone, if they want to try it, rent it first! Listening to them sing the songs is cute at first but very annoying after a while! I was really disappointed with the repetative and weak graphics. I would say that this game is good for a child's hand/eye coordination and that's about it.