Although I tend to choose a good RPG or adventure game over any other genre, there is something about "girl games" that causes me to sit and play them perhaps longer than I should (since I am an adult, and, one would assume, outgrew games like this long ago). When I picked up Trollz: Hair Affair, I didn't expect to give it much play time, but the game surprised me by mixing some silly girliness with quite a fun variety of challenging mini-games.

The game follows the adventures of a group of trolls (who kind of look like those troll dolls with the big vertical colored hairdos), who rely on their magical abilities to get through their day at school. Each troll has different mini-games that they are responsible for beating, and by beating the mini-games as they are presented to you, you can advance through the stages. So, for example, you must play the flying mini-game and get Amethyst to school on her hovercraft device, and once there, play a matching game so that Sapphire can cram for her exam. If you play these games well, not only will you get through the levels, but you will also earn a good hair day for your trolls, and as you will quickly learn, this is very important to them. Having a good hair day is so important, in fact, that one of the mini-games that you play involves shrinking down and heading into the head of hair on a fellow troll to fight frizz and untangle knots.

My two personal favorite mini-games were reminiscent of other more adult games that I've played before. One is a straightforward rhythm game in which you must press the appropriate button in time with the beat, to keep your troll dancing. If you're a fan of rhythm games, you'll probably enjoy this one. However, it is important to keep in mind that this is a Game Boy Advance game, and so the music is mediocre at best, and the graphics are not very exciting. However, it's fun to play, and when using one of the more advanced levels, becomes quite challenging. The other game I enjoyed was the spell bead game, which played just like Bust A Move, in which you must aim and shoot colored beads at the same-colored beads in order to clear the board.

The game offers two modes of play in order to accommodate gamers who just want to get a few quick games in, or who want to get involved and play through a story mode. For those who just want to play the games without worrying about the story, there is the Boom Room, where you can choose the game you want, play it, and go on to the next. For those who really want to get involved, there is also a story, where you basically follow the trolls throughout their day, playing the games as they are presented to you, and scoring as high as possible so that you can unlock outfits for them, and ensure that they have a good hair day. As the day goes along, the trolls learn that the senior boys are going to be kicked out of school because they've been falsely accused of cheating, and so they decide to take it upon themselves to set the record straight. All of these tasks are accomplished by playing mini-games, and playing them well.

As you can see, this game is best suited for young girls, who will get a kick out of beating the games and mixing and matching outfits and hairdos for the trolls. The game is relatively easy, but there are three levels of play that can be chosen, so the difficulty can be stepped up as the player gets more familiar with the way the mini-games work. All in all, the game is entertaining (even for me), and definitely has its own charm. Trollz: Hair Affair is rated E for Everyone, and is available on Game Boy Advance.