Gamertell

Title: Avenue Flo
Price: $19.95
System(s): PC (Also available on Macs)
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Play First (PlayFirst)
ESRB Rating: N/A. I’d say it is appropriate for all ages.
Pros: Nice assortment of mini-games. Familiar characters from the PlayFirst Dash series. Colorful and clear environments.
Cons: For the most part, very easy. Lots of tutorials. Game often tells you what to do instead of letting you do it yourself. Set off alerts and had registration issues with Kaspersky Internet Security 2009.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 85/100; B; * * * 1/2 out of 5

PlayFirst’s Avenue Flo is unquestionably a good and interesting addition to the Dash series of games. Thanks to titles like Diner Dash, Wedding Dash, Diaper Dash, DinerTown Detective Agency and DinerTown Tycoon, fans have been able to enjoy classic casual game genres like time management, hidden object and stategic simulation. With Avenue Flo, the Dash series moves into the realm of point-and-click adventures.

Quinn’s the wedding planner, but Flo’s the only one who can save the wedding.

Quinn, star of the Wedding Dash games, is having an absolutely horrible day. She’s working on a huge wedding that’s supposed to be happening today. Supposed is the key word. The problem is, absolutely everything is going wrong, and it’s too much for her to handle alone. Thankfully Flo, star of the Diner Dash games, is her best friend and willing to help out so Quinn isn’t humiliated and the wedding can go on.

So, players must assist Flo in her endeavor to set things right. Basically, she’s an errand girl. She has to find lost items, or even animals in the case of Snookums the poodle, the bride Ms. Big’s errant dog. She’ll also have to replace damaged items and cater to the needs of others. Along the way, she develops the suspicion that all the mishaps aren’t coincidental - someone in DinerTown is sabotaging the event - and she also has to talk to residents, all familiar characters from Dash or DinerTown games, to find out what exactly is going on.

Quit telling me what to do!

Avenue Flo is bright, colorful and welcoming. The characters are voiced, a first for a DinerTown or Dash game, practically every character from the series makes an appearance and players get to explore most of DinerTown while attempting to save the wedding. It sort of feels like it’s designed to be an adventure game for beginners, which is great if people haven’t ever played a point-and-click adventure. The tutorials are comprehensive, a map is available to see where you are and who you have, or haven’t talked to, you can constantly consult a task list in case you think you’ve missed something and, to break up monotony, puzzle mini-games like matching items, finding hidden objects or taking part in an aerobics class.

However, Avenue Flo can also be compared to an overprotective parent. It is constantly holding the hand of the player and never letting go. While there was never a moment where I was left wondering what I was supposed to do next, there also never seemed to be a moment where I actually had to think and figure something out for myself. If Flo needed to find an item, or go to a different area, she’d often say to herself (and the player) that she should visit x location to get y item. The whole point of an adventure game is to use your brain to find solutions to troublesome situations. Avenue Flo never gives the player the opportunity to do that - it’s constantly doing it for you.

Also, if you’re running Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 on a Windows Vista computer, you may encounter conflicts with Avenue Flo. When I installed it, it labeled the game as a high risk. Normally, that’s no big deal. I’ll just install the game and let Kaspersky label it as such and enable its precautions. But with Avenue Flo it ended up giving off a stream of alerts and I found myself unable to register the game. I had no problem installing, registering and playing Avenue Flo on a Windows XP computer with no anti-virus program.

A better title would be, My First Point-and-Click Adventure: Avenue Flo.

Avenue Flo is cute. Very cute. It’s well executed, filled with familiar Dash series characters and incredibly easy to play. The problem is, it’s far too easy. The only real challenge comes from the mini-games, and even some of those are pretty easy. So the people who’d be most interested in the game, adventure fans, could very likely be turned off by the fact that the game is constantly holding your hand and even telling you what to do.

If you’ve never played an adventure game before, want a game you where you don’t really have to think to play or are a child, Avenue Flo is the perfect pick. If you’re someone who enjoys a challenge or is an older gamer, then look elsewhere.

Site [Avenue Flo]