Wonder Pets: Save the Animals (DS)

On my first adventure I was immediately faced with the task of letting Linny free to answer a phone call from India. A Bengal tiger needs helping and it's up to you to prepare the pets and save the day. The tiger got a thorn lodged in his foot and his friend couldn't get it out alone.

After a few touch screen mini-games, with an encouraging voice helping you along, and some good, old team work, the tiger is better and you can celebrate with a tasty stick of celery. I'll admit, it's not the most conventional way to celebrate but what's the harm in taking the healthy approach?

To prepare the pets for action, they need to put on their costumes and get their vehicle ready. Getting them dressed comes as a different, exciting mini-game for each adventure; my favourite was the pair-game.

The traditional, turn-the-card-and-find-the-matching-items activity takes a small twist as each time you find a pair, the item of clothing appears on its owner. After this, it's time to put together their mode of transport with a drag and drop activity so you can dodge your way to the rescue with yet another mini-game. The mini-games in any of the adventures can be replayed in another mode. These include Turn the Wheel, Find the Items, Connect the Dots and various games involving blowing or speaking into the microphone.

There's also an educational element. The Schoolhouse lets you dress up the pets while unlocking new outfits, trace some words with the stylus pen or listen to, compose and play-back some tunes. Even though I doubt I'll get round to watching an episode of Wonder Pets, I won't have any problem with helping out the six year-old with any aspect of this game. She loved the fun mini-games and rejoiced by how they can be played "as much as you want".