Although based off the same movie and also released by Sierra, The Spiderwick Chronicles for the DS bears little to no resemblance to its Wii companion. The Spiderwick Chronicles for the DS puts the player in control of all three Grace children at the same time; while exploring the same great storyline that made the other games of the same title so worth playing. The player will spend most of their time doing three things: collecting sprites and items, moving from place to place, and fighting off goblins.

Language and sexuality are entirely absent from the Spiderwick chronicles. Violence is barely present, attacked characters and enemies simply stumbling and falling when defeated. Magic exists in the form of Sprite powers, useable by all three Grace children. While these abilities could technically be classified as magic, the characters simply release some sprites to do what they do anyway, making it easy to explain and containing no occult or harmful images. The message of the game is very positive, and it is very easy to determine who the ?bad guys?. We would say that this game is acceptable for gamers of all ages, but the combat and other systems might be a bit beyond the abilities of very young players. The given rating of 10+ is a fair one, but one that could easily be ignored with parental guidance as the game contains very little in the way of objectionable content.

While not perfect, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a very fun little gem of a game. An amusing feature of the game also uses the wireless capabilities of the DS to trade collected Sprites with other players. Combat is fun and uses a simple enough system that players will catch on quickly, but retains enough of a challenge that the game is not a complete push-over. All in all, the Spiderwick Chronicles for the DS is a game well worth having.

» By Matthew Turpin, Plain Games. Published 2/29/2008 3:43:33 PM.