Famicom World

Intro (Storyline) 1.5

There are a lot of lame ass games that come with any gaming console -- Nintendo's Famicom was never exempt. Bird Week, a game in which you play as a momma bird trying to feed her hatchlings, is about the lamest you can get. It's child's play of the worst kind.

There really isn't a clear storyline for the game. Hit A on the controller and you're thrown into the action. You're a blue bird, and the eggs you laid a while back have just hatched two beautiful tiny blue birds. The younglings, needing to grow strong so they can fly, are damn hungry. And it's your job to get them their food. If you don't...they will die.

Graphics 2.0

For the most part, the graphics look like something cut out of construction paper in a first grade classroom. Very plain and smoothly delineated, the scene is of the outdoors, with trees, a blue sky and green grass. In the air flies one of the blue bird's enemies: the ominous blackbird. Also, scattered about and flying erratically are orange butterflies: the food you must catch and regurgitate into your babies' mouths. The scene only changes moderately from stage to stage. The trees turn colors with the seasons, spotted with pink flowers to symbolize the spring and given orange leaves during autumn. New enemies enter the game the further along you get.

Audio 2.0

The audio is awful -- though happy. If forced to listen to this music for more than an hour you would lose your sanity. Alas, it goes with the game. The cheerful, carnival-esque music adds to the exploratory feel of the game, as well as giving the first graders who put it all together a reason to dance around, do the hokey pokey, or whatever.

Gameplay 2.0

Sitting up in their nest, you're hatchlings are hungry! You must fly around and catch butterflies, then land on your nest and feed each one. The only problem is there are enemies to watch out for. There's a blackbird that flies ever so slowly about the sky, taking random and quick dashes in your direction. And then there's the cute and crazy chipmunk, which for some reason can't stop jumping up in the air, trying to claw you. Then there's the squirrel hopping between trees and the mole digging in and out of the ground. There are others, too.

You can lose lives two ways: either you get hit by one of the enemies, or the enemies keep you away from your nest long enough that you're unable to feed your babies and they die. The most exciting part of the game just might be watching yourself or your little hatchlings die, as they plop to the ground, hitting with a thud. Yet, more exciting than that is the feeling you get when you've done your part as a mother. Once you've fed a baby blue bird three butterflies, the baby bluebird will begin to flap it's wings, glories music will sound, and the bird will fly away into the sky! After you have "raised" both of your blue birds so that they fly away, you move on to the next level. The next level, of course, is almost exactly the same -- which is one of the more frustrating traits of Bird Week; it lacks variation in gameplay.

Interspersed between some levels is a bonus level not much different than the regular levels. As the blue bird, you fly around trying to catch critters in your mouth, like fish jumping out of water. This time, however, you just catch them -- no baby birds to feed.

Controls 3.0

The control is rougher than you might expect for such a simple game. The blue bird flies in a very rigid pattern -- the cardinal directions with limited diagonal abilities. The bird also can land on the ground and walk; however, it's not recommended because of how slow the bird walks. But everything the bird does is so slow you'll likely be bored with Bird Week pretty quickly.

Oh, and just in case you find the game too complex to begin with, the start screen offers an option called "Study Game" that aims to teach you how to play. But that option is really just the first level, and once you complete it, the game takes you right back to the start screen. Doesn't really make sense.

Frustrations 3.5

Believe it or not, there are some legitimate reasons to be frustrated with Bird Week, aside from the basic complaint of it being a kiddie game. One frustration is the title: Bird Week, yet the game takes you through the seasons in no time. Might have been better off calling it Bird Year.

Plus, another frustrating parts of the game is the limited control, but beyond that it's getting off the nest once you're on it. Enemies pegged me a bunch of times because I was feeding my baby when, say, the blackbird flew close and killed me. When you're on the nest there's only three ways to get off of it. Down isn't an option, but you can walk to one side or the other (and this blue bird walks slow). You also can fly upward, which isn't a help when the blackbird is anywhere near the nest. The blackbird happens to be bigger then the length of the nest, so he easily covers the space above it when attacking from above. And, of course, the bluebirds lift off from the nest is, yes, slow.

Fun Factor 3.0

Holy hell -- this game is boring. If it weren't for the cuteness of the few animals in it, including those charming baby bluebirds, it wouldn't have been even worth my time to review the thing.

Overall 2.0

This game sucks. Unless you get it on a multicart or in some random lot (like I did) I wouldn't recommend playing it. It might be fun for a quick 20 minutes of play, but certainly no more than that! But hey, if you've got a first grader in the house, Bird Week would be the right pace for him.