I must be the only mother in the world who tells her kid to “Hurry up and eat dinner so we can play video games”.    If we’re not playing Mario Kart on the Wii, we were sent the newest release for the Nintendo DS called The Legendary Starfy. It’s about Starfy, a popular character who after years starring in Japan has finally made his way over to North America, joining the ranks of Mario, Donkey Kong and Kirby and providing hours of fun for kids of all ages.

The second my 4 year old saw the game he was begging me to play it.  For the next hour, he sat entranced as his character swam, jumped and bounced his way through a variety of levels.  I heard shouts of “Oh, cool!” and “Look at this!” as he got his character to transform into different forms.

It’s cute because Starfy and his best buddy (a clam named Moe) are out to help a mysterious, bunny-eared visitor find his lost memory.  He can shape shift into various forms- Monstar, a dragon that spits fire; Starpedo, an Arctic seal with acrobatic abilities; Starfright, a spooky specter; and Roostar, a super-squawking chicken that lays sonic eggs.  The options can be a little overwhelming at first, but this one game can keep your child entertained through a long car or plane ride without any problems.

Each level starts with some story, so younger players can practice reading with their parents by their side.  My husband found the story section tedious but found it more entertaining by reading aloud with our son.   It has great sound and animation, and is full of colorful worlds.

Within each level there are deeper secret levels (reminiscent of some Mario games) and lots of mini challenges within each area.  There are also mini games to play where Players can link with friends over a local wireless connection and face off in a variety of mini-games that involve fishing (Fishing Derby), racing (Depth Chargers), tracing shapes in the sand (Sand Tracer) and even cooking (Dumpling Master).

The Legendary Starfy retails for $29.99 and is like having 5 games in one.  Starfy is iconic in Japan and with this national debut, he is sure to be the latest gaming trend for our kids to follow!

UPDATE 8/14/09-

Nintendo recently launched The Legendary Starfy Aquarium on KidsCom.com. They’ve gotten really good feedback so far about the family-friendly game’s lovable character, which has been compared to Kirby. So they launched a site where visitors can learn about characters in the game, watch the game trailer and chat with other kids about the game.

In addition, visitors who play the fun, Starfy-themed activities (word search, matching and trivia) are automatically entered into a sweepstakes to win a Nintendo DSi system and the game. (Four people will win Nintendo DSi and the game, and a grand prize winner will win the game and Nintendo DSi both for themselves and for their school’s library.) The sweepstakes ends this Sunday 8/16/09, although the site will continue to be updated after that. They’d love for you to be able to check out the site!