iCarly is a popular sitcom on the kids’ cable channel Nickelodeon. Teenager Carly runs her own Web site and she and her friends make crazy videos to post online. While filming, the gang goofs off, learns a lesson or two, and sometimes they’ll go on the occasional adventure. Now you can join in and help make crazy iCarly Webisodes, too, with iCarly for the Wii and DS.

The best way to describe the iCarly video game is it’s a bunch of mini-games you play in rapid succession, similar to WarioWare. In fact, the mini-games are nearly as nonsensical as WarioWare challenges. For instance, in one challenge you have to put noses on a Christmas tree. Huh? I guess it’s funny if you dig the TV show’s off-kilter sense of humor.

Each stage, or Webisode, has about 8 or so mini-games in it and you must figure out what to do quickly and successfully pass the game. In the first few seconds, the game will show you how to hold the remote and give you a brief description on what to do. You might have to tilt the remote sideways to balance plates on your head, or point the remote at the screen to squirt water at the kids. You’ll have a few seconds to complete each mini-game (seconds represented by camera battery power), and beat all the mini-games to pass the stage and finish the Webisode. It can be hard to know what to do at first, but after a try or two, you’ll figure things out easily.

After completing a stage, you’ll earn Web-cred, currency you can use to buy decorations for your hangout. You can also arrange your own set of mini-games to make your very own customized, personal Webisode. Compete with up to four other players in separate mini-games in Multiplayer Mode. While the actual voices of the characters are in the story sections, it would’ve been nice if they could’ve used their realistic likenesses as well, instead of the cartoon cutouts.

The DS version of the game is nearly exactly the same as the Wii version, except you are using the stylus and touch screen for the mini-games instead of the Wii remote. One impressive aspect of the DS version is all the voice acting from the Wii is intact here. If you have a Nintendo DSi, you can use the camera and microphone to modify your iCarly experience. The DS version is a little bit more challenging than the Wii game, so keep that in mind when you’re buying this game for your young iCarly fan.

Kid Factor:

iCarly is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Comic Mischief. If your kids are OK with watching the TV show, they’ll be OK with this game, too. While there is full voice acting during the story sections, reading skill is still helpful for viewing e-mails and wading through menus. Newcomers may not get into the iCarly game, but it may hold a die-hard iCarly fan’s interest for a little while.

Tags: Game Reviews