Xbox Series X Critic Reviews

Bluey: The Videogame is a fantastic child-friendly endeavour. What's more, it'll appeal to fans of the franchise. Accordingly, if you are looking for a challenging game, this isn't for you. However, if you want a straightforward, fun, and colourful affair, then this ticks every box.

To sum up Bluey: The Videogame would be to say that a dad had a fun time playing this game with his kids. It may have been a short experience for us totaling up to a few hours for the story and all collectibles, but they certainly had a good time. Our main feedback comes down to the length and nitpicky details like repeated dialog and camera controls when playing with multiple people. Overall I can recommend this game for families of young kids (or fans of the show I suppose) that want to get together around their Xbox together for a few hours.

The technical hiccups and the lack of interaction in Bluey: The Videogame caused our four-player team to scream “awwww” in disappointment. But it’s testament to the game’s authenticity that they often wheeled away and played with something else in the world instead. From the art to the voice-acting to the painstaking recreation of the Bluey house: it’s all exactly as it should be.

The big question I asked myself when it came to writing a review was this: Is this just a low-effort cash grab, or is it worthy of the fantastic show? I’m pleased to say, I feel they’ve landed firmly in the latter camp. The usually impeccably imparted ‘lesson’ each episode of the show delivers arrives here in the game exactly where it should be, heart and warmth intact.

Wedged somewhere between Wi-Fi and The Wiggles as one of Australia’s greatest exports, Bluey has been a staggeringly successful animated series. Tens of billions of minutes of the show have been streamed into households in more than 60 countries, and the Heelers have subsequently been transformed into over 1,000 bits of merchandising tat. In an unfortunate turn of events, Bluey: The Videogame feels a lot like another forgettable piece of the latter, hovering somewhere between the countless toys and the tubes of licensed toothpaste. Low on innovation and high on what feels like contractual obligation, Bluey: The Videogame is really a low-effort mobile game masquerading as a mid-price console and PC product. It may absolutely look the part compared to the show itself, but with its assortment of shallow minigames rife with annoying bugs, frustrating controls, and a bafflingly brief runtime of a little over an hour, everywhere else it’s a dog’s breakfast.

With the source material being so well known for its quality, it’s a shame Bluey: The Videogame is nowhere near as good in writing, gameplay, animation, or anything for that matter. Even with the target audience being young gamers or parents wanting their kids to try something they are familiar with, it’s hard to see many people finding joy here.