In a market that's so over-run by dozens upon dozens of games that are essentially the same exact thing, just by a different company, it makes things really difficult in the way of finding any that are worth bothering with.Based on first appearances alone, this game does not look particularly appealing or impressive. The box art looks like something I could have drawn myself and then digitally colored in on Paint Shop Pro. Even if you get so far as starting up the game, the eyes on all the characters are TERRIFYING. This says a lot coming from me...the girl who usually likes huge eyes. (What can I say? I am a Liza Minnelli fan, after all.) These, on the other hand, look like they'll try and eat your soul in your sleep.
Creeptastic characters aside, once you pass the main menu, you're brought to a screen that looks like a typical office desk. The different items in front of you open the different game modes and such.
Upon entering career mode, you'll be placed inside a salon setting (you'll be viewing it from an aerial view while deciding which customer(s) to take next) where you'll either be trained to perform a new salon treatment or given a goal of a certain number of customers to take care of in a certain amoutn of allotted time, without letting X number of customers leave in frustration from waiting too long. (It's easier said than done.)
Unlike most other salon/beauty games, this one runs the gamut in REALLY going the extra mile to have different treatments of all sorts so that you don't grow bored. I'll quickly touch upon each of them:
- Manicure Prep - You file each nail smoothly and proceed to push back the cuticles. You know they've got the realism aspect down when I cringe at even just the sound of the nail file. (I can't stand them in real life, either.) Simple enough.
- Manicure Color - Basically just as it sounds. You have to grab the nail polish color your customer wants and neatly paint their nails with it. However, with the time limit allowed for this, it makes it a challenge to paint the nails neatly. This is akin to real life, though. My mother was a beautician and always amazed me at how fast she was trained to paint nails. They evidently do train you to do it under a certain time limit.
- Manicure Clean - You must chip away the old nail polish with a nail file before using nail polish remover to get rid of the rest. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for one small detail... It was brought to my attention by my brother as he looked over my shoulder at what I was playing that the way they animate the fingers for this part, they look more....um....how do I say this? They look like a very inappropriate part of the male genitalia to be putting in a children's game. I know, it's not SUPPOSED to be one, but once it's pointed out to you, you realize that it DOES, indeed, look like this. Freudian slip? Accident? Intentional subliminal message? You decide.
- Face Mask - Slather on a facial mask, blow into the microphone to dry it, and then rinse it off. Easy stuff...except that each customer wants their rinse water a different temperature.
- Blusher - Straightforward. Find the correct color of blush and apply it to the cheeks. Do it too fast, however, and you'll have to blow away the excess cloud of dust you've just created.
- Eyeshadow - This one's a little misleading, as you'll be spending more time applying the mascara here - and not with a wand, either; you have to trace it onto every lash... - than doing the actual eye shadow.
- Lipstick - Another fairly straightforward one. Get the customer's shade of lipstick, apply it, and coat it with clear lipgloss to make it shine.
- Henna - Now here's an addition that I can't say as I've ever seen in another beauty game! I really enjoyed doing this part, although I wish they'd of had more designs. You would take the dark henna and trace the outline of the design your customer wanted, and then fill it in with a pre-determined color. Again, having to do this quickly and neatly so you don't run out of time.
- Hair Wash - This part, although I knew it would have to be in the game, I wasn't too wild about. Set the water temperature accordingly, get the hair wet, apply shampoo, lather it up, re-adjust the water temperature, rinse out the shampoo, and then blowdry the hair dry. However, the blowdryer is powered by you blowing into the microphone, and having to continue doing it non-stop until the hair is completely dry. Not a very nice thing to do to an asthmatic...
- Hair Style - Just like it sounds. You brush out the customer's hair and then either straighten or curl it, depending on what they want.
- Cut & Color - Make sure to note the length on the top screen that the customer wants. It's unfortunately done a little bit subtley, so the first time around, it's a little tricky figuring out what they want. Once the hair is cut, dye their hair the color they want. (It's usually blonde.)
- Pedicure Prep - See Manicure Prep.
- Pedicure Color - See Manicure Color.
- Pedicure Clean - See Manicure Color. Also, this one is particularly more disgusting, because the toenails always look like they're diseased or something until you finish cleaning them. (GAG.)
- Back Massage - This game's salon is pretty much a full out spa, isn't it? Here, you must tap and rub your customer's back accordingly to the onscreen instructions.
- Foot Massage - Pretty much the same as the Back Massage, with some circular rubbing thrown into the mix as well.
- Hot Stones - Ooooh, nice touch! Match up the correctly-shaped stones with the outlines that show up on the customer's back, and remove them at the appropriate times, lest you want to burn your customer.
- Sensors - Now this one confuses me. You attach sensors to your customer's back, twist them, wait for them to turn green, and remove them. Um... okay? Your advisor tells you that these are the top of line in massage technology, and that they can detect pain. So, wait, are these doing any massaging, or just telling you where the customer hurts? I'm so confused...
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