How to Train Your Dragon, like most movie to game adaptations, released simultaneously on almost every platform available including the Wii and Nintendo DS. The games continue the storyline of the movie and allow players to explore locations from the movie as well as expanded areas not seen in the film. Players can choose to play as either Hiccup or Astrid as they fight to become the ultimate Dragon Master. Since the Red Death dragons were defeated, the vikings now have a series of tournaments to test each others’ skills in training dragons to fight. From here on out, I’ll discuss the unique aspects of both the Wii and DS versions.

Wii Version

The Wii version of How to Train Your Dragon follows the same continuing storyline of the DS version, but there is a lot more customization available to the player. Since the Wii can naturally handle more detail than the DS, dragons can be customized in a wide range of items, enhancements, and physical features. As you progress through the game, you’ll have to pick one of the main dragon races and then battle to earn new unlocks and level up your dragon. The game has four main areas to visit/explore: Vikings’ Village, Wild Zone, Training Zone, and the Fight Arena.

The gameplay is easy to get used to: you battle, level up, battle, and repeat. Think of it as a simpler version of Pokemon (although the battles are real-time instead of turn-based) only involving more tournaments rather than a free-roaming adventure. The battles take place in a 3D arena where you can range forward and back and also side-to-side. There are basic fighting moves and also unlockable special moves such as breathing fire and other elemental attacks.

Graphically, the game looks alright but has plenty of jagged edges and muddy textures. It’s not going to wow you on presentation either.

DS Version

The features in the DS game are very similar to the Wii’s. You’ll get to go to various areas on the island of Berk to train your dragon for tournaments. Battles are very similar and are rendered in nice 3D graphics. It’s a decent handheld version of its console counterpart but probably won’t keep your attention for very long.

Conclusion

How to Train Your Dragon is a game that some casual gamers will enjoy playing, but it just doesn’t have the quality that long-time gamers desire. Despite having local multiplayer both for the Wii and DS, the game falls short on keeping your attention unlike the movie itself which was fantastic.

How to Train Your Dragon Wii gets a 6.5
How to Train Your Dragon DS gets a 7.0