Last week, Fox debuted the first trailer for the upcoming Peanuts Movie. The actual film doesn’t come out until 2015, but my family was still pretty excited.
We are huge Peanuts fans in this house. I watch all of Charlie Brown’s televised adventures every single year—and probably would do so even if I didn’t have a child. We also have Peanuts-themed books, bed sheets, toys, clothing, posters, and now, a new app.
Cupcake Digital just debuted Snoopy’s All-Star Football, the first app to come from the company’s new partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, LLC, and Iconix Brand Group Inc. I’m hoping that means that more apps are coming. However, this is a nice start, with an app that features a storybook and a game.
The book is sort of cute, with the gang getting together to have a football game. It ends up being the girls versus the boys, with a “surprise” ending. Of course, one thing that shouldn’t be surprising is that Charlie Brown still has a hard time making any actual contact with the football! Despite that and other familiar characters and themes, the artwork and the story are both original, based on the comics by Charles M. Schulz.
Unlike several Cupcake Digital apps, there are no “touchable” moments here. It would be nice to be able to get Snoopy to dance or even fluff up Pig-Pen’s dust cloud. Instead, it’s just a straight-up storybook, with a narration option.
Speaking of which, Cupcake Digital should have had kids narrate the story. It would make the whole experience more like an actual Peanuts cartoon. I’m not sure who was narrating this thing, but it took some of the magic out of it for me. If you don’t like it, there’s an option to turn it off. It didn’t seem to bother my son, who found the story to be entertaining and hilarious.
However, he probably appreciated the game even more. Snoopy’s All-Star Football has an actual football game inside the app, with 20 levels. In this game, you play as Charlie Brown—and you actually get to touch the football. The concept is to basically have him pass the ball to one of the other characters. The passing did require a bit of a learning curve, since it was hard to aim on the iPad. However, once we got going, my son and I were taking turns and laughing it up. Who you pass to can get you further ahead on the field. You can even score a touchdown if you pass it to the right character. Just don’t pass it to the wrong team; otherwise, you’ll hear the dreaded “Interception!”
You don’t have to be a football fan to enjoy Snoopy’s All-Star Football. It’s currently an exclusive at the iTunes App Store, with a purchase price of $2.99. Being a Peanuts fan, I think it’s worth it. For everyone else, it would probably sell better at the 99-cent price point. That said, the story has a nice message that’s worth repeating and the game provides a little bit of fun as well.
GeekMom received this item for review purposes.
