In the twenty or so years since I was a young child, a lot of things have changed. Since the Eighties, the Berlin wall has been brought down, computers and video games have advanced beyond imagination, and science has discovered that nearly everything we do that's fun and enjoyable is actually going to reduce your lifespan or send you into a violent fit of rage. It's nice then that through all this there's at least one thing that hasn't changed since my childhood: kids still love dinosaurs.

When I originally heard the title Buzz! Junior: Dino Den, I figured that the game would be a dinosaur-related trivia quiz - but it's actually a collection of dinosaur-themed minigames that are controlled using the Buzz buzzers. It's part of a series of games aimed at children and family gameplay, with past titles including Monster Rumble and Robo Jam. The main game involves playing through a selection of minigames either in teams or competitively. The game allocates you a score at the end of each minigame and the player or team with the highest score at the end wins - simple!

An obvious party game at heart, I only actually played through Dino Den once by myself; as you might imagine, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. The AI of the computer opponents is a challenge on Hard, but this isn't one of those games that you can enjoy 'au solitaire'. Unlike more in-depth party games like Nintendo's flagship Mario Party, there are no unlockables or features especially designed for single players. It's just you and the scoreboard, so unless you want to get in some practice to make sure that you beat the people you're going to compete with on multiplayer, single player is ultimately unsatisfying and short-lived.

However, a twenty-something man playing alone isn't exactly the target audience for a dinosaur minigames collection, so in the interests of fair play and a rather pressing lack of children in my household, I roped my ever suffering and frustratingly competitive girlfriend into some games. The minigames are varied enough, although they feel like they're more limited than enhanced by the buzz controller. Most of the minigames involve pressing a colour as it appears on the screen or holding/releasing the buzzer at the correct points to fire or move your dinosaurs towards their goal. Half the challenge of many of the games is making sure you know where the colours are on the remote, rather than any actual skill.

Instructions are given by a caveman and a short video before each game; thankfully these are skippable, but it would have been nice to be able to turn them off altogether after a while, especially considering that the idea of cavemen and dinosaurs existing at the same time irked my pragmatic girlfriend, despite her having no issues with the idea of dinosaurs being able to play an efficient game of bowling, ice skating or tennis. She makes a valid point though - if you look for a little bit of education in the games that your children play, then Dino Den is probably going to do more harm than good, although any self-respecting six-year-old boy will probably already know his stegosaurus from his tyrannosaurus.

The cartoon graphics are varied and original, fitting into the prehistoric theme well enough to remind me of some oddly competitive version of The Land Before Time, or any number of other dinosaur cartoons and comics. Most of the game is obnoxiously and overbearingly cute, but my girlfriend, and no doubt most children, will appreciate that plenty. The commentator refers to each player's colour during minigames, offering statements about how well (or poorly) they are doing. The voice acting is certainly going to grate on some people, but I found it surprisingly professional and less repetitive than I've seen in other party games.

All of this seems like a bit of a moot point considering the fact that it's unlikely that even the most critical and educated of six-year-olds are going to be considering the nuances of the game's design and visual style, and those that would probably wouldn't be too interested in playing a quick game of dinosaur fishing. What children and potentially buyers of Dino Den will care about is entertainment - and Dino Den scores high in this category. My girlfriend had a smile on her face throughout (at least up until the last few games when I overtook her on the leaderboard!). Not everyone is going to find every single game a lot of fun, but you can create custom games with all your favourite minigames, once you know which ones you enjoy the most. The game is polished and accessible as well, two trademarks of the Buzz! series.

Recommending Buzz! Junior: Dino Den is difficult. Ultimately it all depends on the age and tastes of your children. The Wii remains king of the party games and if you're used to having games of Mario Party 8 or Wii Sports with your family then Dino Den might feel a little flat. However, if this isn't an option to you and you're looking for something fun and accessible that you can enjoy playing with your young ones, then Dino Den is good, clean fun and if you've already purchased the buzzers for another Buzz! game then it's good value to boot. However, if you already own one or more of the previous Buzz! Junior titles then (unless your kids are absolutely nuts for dinosaurs) there's not really enough new content to justify a purchase; there's only so much you can do with four colours and a big red buzzer.

Reviewed by Rob Clarke for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).