DreamWorks Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure Is Basically a Kids Horse Riding Game
DreamWorks Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure is another licensed game from Outright Games. Here’s what we think about it in our preview.
Dreamworks Spirit has a TV show on Netflix that features the titular Horse and Lucky, a girl who forms a strong bond with Spirit. Together, they can be seen going through many adventures during the various episodes of the TV show.
While I can’t speak for the quality of the show, which is aimed at the kids, there was a new game that was based on the show released by Outright Games. An early look at the trailer gives a glimpse at the various gameplay segments and visuals. Unfortunately, the quality of the trailer doesn’t reflect the Nintendo Switch port, which is what I played.
It is not surprising to expect the visuals to downgrade on the Nintendo Switch, since it is a less powerful hybrid console out of the current and last-generation consoles, but the big issue that I had with the game was its performance. There are frequent stutters which make riding Spirit awkward and hard to control. If you are sensitive to performance, then I’d suggest getting this on a different platform.
Judging it solely as a kids’ game, the missions feel repetitive and are full of fetch quests. You have missions that just put you on a horse to ride from one point of the map to the other. Thankfully, there is fast travel to reduce the time it takes to complete them, but it is still not a suitable alternative. There are also stealth missions where you tail a character to a location.
I have enjoyed my fair share of games that are aimed at kids, unfortunately, when it comes to DreamWorks Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure, I feel that it is only aimed at the die-hard fans of the show who will enjoy having Spirit and Lucky playable in the game. I wouldn’t really consider it from the point of view of a video game aimed at kids, especially on the Nintendo Switch where the issues are magnified due to the performance.
In my brief time with the game, I was mostly doing fetch quests, racing with my friends, or taking photographs of Spirit and the scenery. It feels like there is some variety to the gameplay, but that is hindered by the low production value. Cutscenes are not animated and instead, you just get a dialogue box with the character imposed on them leading to awkward cuts. The UI feels like it is for a mobile game.
DreamWorks Spirit Lucky’s Big Adventure is a game that is only aimed at fans of the show. It has a terrible Nintendo Switch port so if you want to enjoy the game, try it on a PS4 or other platform where it can at least work out better.
