Right off the bat I have to tell you that this game is certainly directed to the core demographic that the toy line appeals to; teenage and slightly pre-teen girls in love with the world of glamour and fashion. Even though I can recognize that the game is actually pretty solid, it never appealed to me in the same sense that something like a Transformers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license would. Now if only we could get someone to make as solid a game on those licenses….

The game puts you in control of 4 girls dedicated to creating a new fashion magazine after one of the girls has a fall out with the leading magazine in town after some disastrous events involving conniving twins that will prove to be constant thorns in your side throughout the game.

You control all four “Bratz” by switching between them at any time you choose. Each girl has her own set of “missions” to complete that helps to contribute to the magazine (and the band that comes later on.) Most of the missions consist of going out and either searching the mall for items or retrieving things from friends that are scattered throughout the different locations; The Mall, The Park, The Office Plaza, etc. The Mall in particular is littered with shops that you can visit, selling all sorts of items such as clothing, jewelry, and make up. Each shop is literally filled with things to buy, so there’s no lack of variety when it comes to customizing each of the girls.

Each of the Bratz characters look just like the dolls in the toy line. Big heads and big eyes, smaller bodies, and each outfit and trinket you can purchase are all in excellent detail. Even the environments you’ll find yourself traveling through are rendered very well, and they are varied enough to keep you from getting lost or losing track of where you’re supposed to be.

The music features quite a few licensed tracks that will obviously appeal to fans of the characters, and you can alter the tracks you want to listen to simply be walking up to one of the many radios littered throughout the game. Each track is a rock/pop type of single, so if you’re a fan of that type of Top 40 Avril/Britney/Hillary Duff kind of music, you’ll be into this.

The length of the game is considerably longer than what you might anticipate, and if you feel like this is a game that will appeal to you, it’s definitely worth a purchase. Especially if you can get into the customization options available, you can find yourself spending quite a bit of time with the game outside of what the core storyline will present to you. There’s a considerable amount of mini-games and challenges to be found scattered about as well, which adds to the long-term playability of the title.

All in all, Bratz is a solid game for the crowd it’s catered to. The average gamer demographic won’t have much interest, but the oft overlooked younger teen crowd of girl gamers might find something here that they can really enjoy. I definitely have to give a thumb up to the development team that worked on making what could have been simple license cash in into a playable, and enjoyable game.