All those familiar with Where in the World is Carmen San Diego would have played this game before. Or were you like me, a dorky kid who was glued to the cartoon series back in the 80s searching for a certain pin-striped Wally? Since then, a plethora of object-finding games have already been unleashed upon the market, but Big City Adventure is one worth mentioning.

Everyone’s played this genre of game before at one point or another, so I won’t bother going too deep into it. You start the game as a member from a family; be it mom, dad, the kids or even gramps. Armed with an item list, your job is to spot these items in the picture - and a lot of times, they are cleverly disguised as part of the environment. What makes this game really stand out for me is the fact that the developers go out of their way to make it more than just an object-finding game.

The levels themselves are split into different parts of San Francisco in your tour of the city. Snippets of trivia about each of these locations are shown on a postcard. It was refreshing to see how this information is slipped in without being too preachy and boring. Before you move from town to town, you’ll have to play a mini game that will reveal what the mystery location is. There are simple memory and pattern recognition games, as well as jigsaw puzzles to solve. This really breaks the monotony of the game and really pushes gameplay up a notch. Big City Adventure also promises fun for the entire family. Try getting the family together (you’ll need a bigger screen for this!) and get everyone to pitch in and hunt for items.

The game levels are given a lush 3D treatment, which adds a lot more depth to the game. The mini games and transitional screens are 2D but they still look sharp and gorgeous. Special effects and animation in the game are subtle, as with the sound and music.

All in all, this is a tried and tested formula but the extra effort to give more oomph to gameplay really paid off. However, some might find this game a tad too easy. It’s perfect for kids though, as it will appeal to their inquisitive nature and teach them a thing or two about San Francisco. Big City Adventure is one game worth adding to your casual game collection indeed.

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