Bookworm Adventures 2 is the long awaited sequel to one of the world’s most popular world games. Is the game accessible enough to attract new crowds or will it only impress fans of the series?

The first thing that struck me was that everything was point-and-click controls, with maybe a little dragging in the Options menu. Unless you’re terrible with a computer mouse, that means this game will be very easy to control.

In this game, your character (a bookworm named Lex) has to spell words to defeat enemies. You are given a 4-by-4 grid of 16 letters (“Q” is always “Qu” instead here, so 25 possible letters and you don’t have to use a “U” tile with the “Qu” tile). It is therefore your job to spell out the words, then click Attack to end your turn with a strike on your opponent. There’s no missing or dodging in this game, and the power of your attack depends on what letters you used, and how long the word you attacked with is.

You also get three different potions, which are collected in various ways. One of them restores two hearts of your life energy (obviously, it’s Game Over if you lose all your hearts), one powers up your attack for that turn, and one cures all status ailments. Status ailments range from being burned, poisoned, stunned, frozen, or even having tiles in your grid smashed, warped, or locked. Enemies get gradually harder to defeat, as well.

As you defeat enemies, you’ll fill up your Level Up Gauge, and when it’s completely full, your base stats are augmented for the better. This is really the only thing this game has in common with RPGs. This game I wouldn’t call an RPG, really. Defeating enemies with spelled-out words is really all this game amounts to.

When you get far enough in the game, you will sometimes have the opportunity to play a minigame for prizes, usually potions. These range from using the letters in one big word to spell out smaller ones to spelling words quickly from a random set of letters to defeat another character in a race.

The graphics are rather cartoony, and while the movements are smooth, any Pokémon game for the Game Boy Advance or more recent would get a higher score for battle sequence graphics.

The Final Word
It’s clearly a children’s game, and should keep them amused for a while. However, the game is also easily finished, and can also get somewhat boring. The story isn’t really much to listen to, either.

- MonsterVine Rating: Average