Some men just want to watch the world burn…
Fireman Sam: To The Rescue is a mini-game collection on 3DS. It has 9 total mini-games that can be played individually or through the 3 short stories that are narrated photos of the Pontypandy crew.
It would have been more beneficial to at least get the voice-actors from the series to reprise their roles, even if the story was still told through screenshots instead of cutscenes. The narrator does a decent enough job, although as far as I know there hasn’t ever been one on the show. Yes, I have watched the modern and classic shows…I have a two year old son, just so you know I wasn’t watching it for my own benefit…
The stories are your basic excuses for fires to start up, which then leads to the mini-games. These can vary from Normal Price collecting paper planes on his skateboard, tapping the firemen coming down their poles with the number on them representing how many times you have to tap them. There’s a match 3-in-a-row game as well as one with conveyor belts distributing items for the fire engine Jupiter and you essentially shift Jupiter from left to right to match the items with what is on the side of Jupiter.
The mini-games aren’t exactly the best quality and offer no real challenge. I know this is a game for kids, but I just can’t imagine them having a lot of fun with them. I even tried to show my son the game and he ran off after about 2 minutes and he loves Fireman Sam. Also for £25 you will feel ripped off for just 9 mini-games and 3 short stories that have no cutscenes or voice-acting from the cast.
The Verdict
Fireman Sam: To The Rescue is a disappointing attempt to bring the series to the 3DS. The mini-games are poor and offer nothing in terms of replayability, they aren’t even very enjoyable. It’s a hard sell at £25 for what is on offer, that’s for sure.