Platform: PC
ESRB: E
Number of Players: 1
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Release Date: Feb 23, 2009
Official Website

Clueless

Basic Idea as I See it: Cluless the game, like Clueless the movie, is all about achieving high fashion in different styles for different activities, trying to be beautiful and grab the attention of boys… in high school. The player’s job in this game is to help the girls put together outfits that fit specific styles that range from 90’s hip hop to red carpet ready to Rodeo Drive rodeo. There are guidelines to the types of clothes that fit into each style, and the trick is to pick the right ones while also paying attention to what their respective boyfriends like.

Graphics: This game is bright and sparkly and girly. Just like Cher… the main character from the movie. Most of the characters are represented with their likeness, and with some, like Josh, Travis, and Cher’s dad look more like their counterparts. I admit, I do like me a bit of sparkle coming from the mouse pointer… but sometimes the detail wasn’t there enough to follow the rules of the styles. Whether something was actually furry or ruffled was sometimes difficult to distinguish. Some of the great variety of clothes looked quite pretty, though. I almost wanted to wear some of them myself!

Sounds: I will say that, though the music follows the era and style of the movie pretty well, some of it did grate on me a bit. It was cool that the music started during the (incredibly long) loading process, and throughout the different segments of the game, the music changed quite a bit. The actual game sounds seemed to fit in with the style of game as well. I liked a few of the comments from the boyfriends and from Cher. They made the game more entertaining. It might have been nice if the dialogue was spoken as well.

Controls: Easy mouse controls. Click to choose an item, click where to place it, click to get hints, click for reminders, click to continue. There isn’t a great need to be precise, which is nice. And it is always straightforward.

Flow: The flow makes perfect sense most of the way through the game. They introduce a new style, get the player used to the different articles that fit within that style, then combine it with another, to illustrate that some work for more than one and some don’t, then combine these with a third, to encourage critical thinking. The girls remain constant through each particular level, so players only need to think about what 2 or 3 boyfriends prefer at a time. This works as each store is unlocked – until about the last store, where it seems that no new style is introduced and they just combine more of the earlier styles learned while encouraging blending and experimentation. There are a few opportunities for bonus levels in each store (which is a group of levels). The bonus levels are a nice break from the same idea, where players are briefly shown an outfit in a particular pose and then asked to duplicate it. Lastly, completely separate (with the exception that playing the game unlocks more clothes for use here) from the rest of the game is the photo studio, where players can dress up the girls in the various clothes from the game and set them against different backgrounds in different poses and take snapshots which save to their desktop.
I will say that i would have appreciated a few more different types of mini games or breaks from normal play along the way as well as a more climactic ending level.

Fun Factor: For those who enjoy dress up games, as well as the movie Clueless, this is a pretty fun one for the most part. Like I said, the comments were entertaining, but also, the bits of dialogue, which followed the movie pretty well, in between levels upped the entertainment factor as well. At a point, getting through the game seemed a bit repetitive, and the scoring is not really about picking the right ensembles, more picking the right individual pieces without regard how they look together – and once the trick to that is figured out, it’s tougher to play it as a fun dress up game so much as just throwing on articles to see which will get the most points, while getting the most boyfriend points in the process (they don’t always go hand in hand). So, it’s fun to a point. It could have been more fun if it were about combinations and what looks good aesthetically – at least some of the time.

Female Aspect: This game is geared toward females. The main characters are females, doing what typical teenage females supposedly like to do best – shopping, trying out clothes, and trying to get the boys’ attention (while also trying to figure out their own true identity and making self-discoveries along the way – which has more to do with the movie, but is integrated into the game as well). So there is a lot of girliness in here… it’s just (harmless) stereotypical girliness that holds true to the movie.

Replay Value: I think the replay really depends on how much each particular player is into the dress up genre. It might have helped the replay value to have more kinds of mini games that are individually accessible, though the photo shoot option is always there. The actual game is too long for me to try to get through it again.

Final Thoughts: I think this is good for the right audience. I hate to say that it could have been better necessarily, it’s just not quite what it could be. I enjoyed the entertainment value and the closeness to the movie. The full version is only $9.99, though. So if you like dress up games and the movie, I’d say check out the demo to see if this is right for you.

Thanks for reading!
Dawn