Reviews (16)

Kinda boring...
I bought this game because I love the Little Mermaid and seeing Ariel on the box made me very happy. Sadly, there is not much Ariel in the game. The most you can do is put your princess model into Ariel scenes. I was hoping to put my model into Ariel's mermaid costume, but sadly, there are not many Ariel costume options (just the wedding dress and a pink one that she wears when she is human). All the costume are the classic 'ballgown' princess style, and most of them are ugly, as a matter of fact. I enjoyed putting my face onto these models, but I was disappointed that there were no costumes I really liked to put myself in. A waste of time; if buying this, like me, because you are a fan of Ariel, don't waste your money. Buy 'Ariel's Story Studio' or 'Little Mermaid 2 Activity Centre' instead.

My daughter likes it - I don't
We checked this software out of the library, thank goodness. I'd be unhappy if we'd spent money on it.

My five year old enjoys playing with it but I suspect she will tire of it before it's due back at the library as there is really nothing to do. You can decorate your horse, decorate the show ring, and run around a track. That's about it.

There does not seem to be any educational value whatsoever unless you're trying to teach a child how to click a mouse.

Very Disappointed Royal Horse Show
Don't give your money to Disney for the Royal Horse Show. I'd hardly call this a game, more precise it is a vehicle to promote Disney princess characters. And even the promotion gained from this was probably a waste for them as my daughter's interest in the limited activities wained quickly.

There are only 4 options to choose from.
1-decorate your horse (this is probably the most engaging feature for my daughter but she lost interest quickly as there seem to be dead end options - you are told that you can show your horse in the ring but no path to do so is ever provided)
2-decorate the royal horse ring (my daughter had no interest in this)
3-ride your horse around the ring (the view is awkward - the top of the horse's head blocks most of the picture)
4-in the craft cottage there are the most awkward features of all (an empty scrapbook which you fill with your escapades - this never caught on with my daughter, a growth chart [what this has to do with the game I have no idea and because her computer is not hooked up to a printer the option just caused the game to hang], a box for horse cards to collect [we are still not sure what this is] and the value of any of this is lost on me).

Cute
My 4 yo can operate much of this game. I'd rate it more for a 6 yo though... not any older. It's fun to dress up the horses. Not really a learning game, just for fun.

Perfect for my little Princess
I got this for my preschooler for Christmas and she is loving it! I love the fact that she can design the princess to look like herself or a friend or just about anyone! Designing the dress and jewelry is her favorite part, but she could go all day if I let her! This is definitely a gift that won't lose its appeal soon and also one that will grow with her!!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hours of fun with this game!!
I did Where in the USA .. Carmen Sandiego at school and it's way way better than this one!! But this one is fun too. Since this is a two pack, I like the Where in the World .. Carmen Sandiego better than the Carmen Sandiego Chase Through time. In the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, you get to go like every country!! At first, I thought it would be hard that you have to find her somewhere in the "world", but after the first case, I got used to it and it was very fun. My brother was watching, he's only five and he caught on to it!! AMAZING!! This game is for ages 8-12, and the Where in the World one is for windows:95/98/XP, was I glad that they had it for XP!! Oh and this is for macintosh too. Except, the Great Chase through Time one doesn't work well for windows XP. I didn't buy this at Toysrus though, I got it from CompUSA check their website and see if this is available in your nearest CompUSA!! They usually tell you if it's in stock or not, the one where I went to, I got the last copy!! ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Creatures 3...great!
I got this game a year ago, and it was the first Creatures game I had ever bought. I had been reading reviews for it for a month, and bought it. When I installed the game and started playing it, it was great!! The Norns were very cute (even if the only facial expression they showed was happyness), the Ettins stole almost every object on the ship and brought it back to it's home area (the ettins are my favorite creatures to watch, I caught it stealing some machinary and told it to drop it, and it just looked at the screen and made a big, cheezy grin at me), and the grendles are horrifying! The only bad things about this game are the creator, it lets you put new objects you download on the internet in the game, but you need something called bioenergy...and...um...the power ups. (note: many creatures users at the creatures newsgroup disliked the power ups in Creatures 2. Creatures Labs didn't know when to stop :-D) I am looking foward to the Docking Station add-on Creatures Labs will be releasing for free! (You don't need Creatures 3 to run it, but it docks with it if you have it.) If you want to buy this game, I recomend that you buy the Creatures Trilogy in the game. It includes C1, C2, and C3 all together! Get this game, or the other game, now!

Challenging, Fun, Frustrating, and Rewarding
This game can be fun and frustrating. In Creatures 3 you are trying to successfully breed and take care of a population of "Norns" which are friendly creatures who live in a land in a huge spaceship. This is no easy task. There are way too many things you have too watch out for including "Grendels" (which are bad monsters that go straight for the kill, disease, drowning, misuse of machines, and starvation. Your Norns can die easily and under 30 seconds. Now, if you had one Norn to watch out for, he or she would be a piece of cake to breed, but in Creatures 3 you have many Norns to breed at one time and when they're all scattered about doing their own things, you can turn you're back on them for 30 seconds to go take care of another Norn and when you can come back, they might have died. That is the only extremely bad part of the program. It is a real challenge to take care of them all and that's why it's really rewarding when a Norn doesn't die until they get real old. Overall I encourage you to try this game somewhere else and then decide if you like it before you waste money on a game you don't like.

THIS GAME IS THE BEST
I bought this game when I was 9 years old. It became my favorite game. In the game you have to take care of norns, ettins or grendels(you decide!)
You can breed norns and ettins in the same world together, of course you can also have grendels there, but the problem may be, that the grendels can sometimes kill norns and ettins, so I recommend to breed grendels in separate world. The fan-made addons all around the internet make the game much more interesting to play! Norns are cute, so are ettins(they've became my favorite breed, lately) and (suprise!)I also think that grendels are cute! I highly recommend this game to everyone above the age of 8.

Amy`s Consumer Report
Cretures 3 is great!Be careful about grendels. They can kill your Norns. If you create more than six woulds a wourld will go down.Click on arrows to reach it.IT I`s a pain installing but i`s wourth it! It also needs connpatibillidy.Buy Cretures 3 and other creatures games. It needs a user manual. I like this game because I like annimals plants and any Cretures.

Wow!!! Love this game!
This is the best game ever! By the way, norns are WAY hardier than belived and with a watchfull eye they can thrive easily.

Hint: If you're worried about grendels, just get 2 eggs before they hatch and put them in water! No more grendels!

I think the medical pod is really cool, you can see if your norn is sick, and then you can help it. The machines are really cool too, you can connect them to make super machines to help you or your norns.

Overall, this is a really cool game, and should get it! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The stronger and more interesting of two games based on the movie, the eponymous Finding Nemo lets kids reunite father and son deep off the reef in Australia's waters. The game opens with Nemo and Marlin in their respective environments, the dentist's fish tank and the wild waters of the open sea. The two fish are linked by a small button at the bottom of the screen, and players can toggle between them as they complete various puzzles.

The game features all the original cast members, and in addition to classic lines from the film, they improvise new lines. Dory, voiced byEllen DeGeneres, is hilarious, and smaller characters--like Nemo's friends in the tank--get more time to show players their individual, funny personalities: clicking on each fish kicks off a short conversation. Although there's more watching than doing in the early stages of the games, Nemo fans will be enthralled. Later stages involve memory games, like following patterns while jumping on the backs of jellyfish. All the characters, including sharks and sea turtles, make extended appearances in Finding Nemo.

Like Nemo's Underwater World of Fun, this game has two primary issues: computer owners must pay close attention to system requirements (otherwise, movie scenes in playback stutter significantly) and gameplay itself lasts little more than an hour, if kids ace the tasks. Also, one caveat for education-minded parents: this game is clearly only for fun, not for--pardon the pun--schooling. But kids will need to look beyond the obvious to complete the tasks in this game, and it's the possibility for discovery that makes Finding Nemo well worth exploring.--Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Reviews (30)

The other version? Poor Quality Control Problem....
This is yet another pc game that could have been so good...The problem? Like the other 3 disney pc games we have, we had to go on-line to reconfigure our computer!!! It seems to be the SOUND that creates problems.

We bought the version for older kids, after reading the reviews here. Guess what? The voices for Nemo and others cannot be understood. It's as if someone put an old record on the wrong speed...high speed....everyone talks like the chipmunks! What we heard of the music and graphics however looked real good.

We're running these programs on windows XP and unable to get the program to work right out of the package, which is a real drag to an intelligent 5 year old and his mom! Bottom line, you probably have to go on line and get help to make the program work. OR you may have luck calling them...

With the exception of MULAN (has a great majonng game for kids...but you have to go on-line and learn HOW TO MAKE THE program work and reconfigure/disable a sound card or something like that....)We've sworn off of Disney pc games, at least for now....they're not worth the trouble.

Misleading, disappointing, irritating waste of time!
The Nemo's Underwater World of Fun game disk enclosed in with the movie DVD, was a big disappointment. My young kids were very excited then very upset. Until I read user reviews here on AMAZON, I thought I had a malfunctioning game rather than a DEMO disk on which only 2 of the 6 activities were accessible, rendering the prizes unwinable and the main games unplayable. And one of the 2 accessible activities, the Tank Gang music maker, seems buggy! Neither the disk, its sleeve, nor the read-me file indicated that it was only a demo, so my exercise in futility began: I installed and reinstalled it. I called the Disney phone number only to find the voice menu options to be misdirected, and at Disney Interactive on-line found no help nor mention of the demo version. FINE DISNEY, so you don't want to give away a free game, but why waste your ad dollars on such a stunt? Guess what, I've not been enticed into buying the real game, just irritated into a resolution to spend NO money on Disney computer games! (It's not your fault THQ (the game designer) we still love you.) I'm Sooooo glad that wonderful PIXAR's contract with Disney is ending!!!

My son likes it, I can't stand it
We bought this for our five-year-old, who loved the movie. Why is it that all Disney games turn into annoying (and cloying) lead-ins or promos for the movie? Why do we have to watch endless clips of it? The games seem kind of uneven (some way too hard, others too easy), and sometimes the software seems to get 'stuck' (we need to back out and repeat the objective to get it to work). I like THQ and their software in general, I've just noticed that anything Disney-related gets bogged down in their desire to "Plug the movie! Plug the products!" My son does like it when he plays it, but it's been used a LOT less than I had anticipated. Gets 3 stars for good graphic and audio quality, but I'd give the game itself a two.

terrible
I bought the finding nemo software for my daughter today and I sincerely regret it. It is one of the worst games I have ever purchased. The games dont work. You get nowhere. I would advise everyone considering this game to just save your money. My daughter was excited to get it until we installed it and tryed playing it only to find out it is a lemon.

Very cute
I just loved the movie, so naturally I bought the game. My sis and I have had these little, ummm...."problems" with games for kids 4+. We can't win them!! The older kid's games are easier. But that's what makes this game fun. I still can't win the "Surfin' With Crush" level though. "Nemo's Underwater World of Fun" actually has a story to it. Nemo wants to prove to his dad that he can move around just as well as any other fish. So Marlin sets up a "Super Swim Challenge" game, that will test Nemo's swimming skills. It goes from there in that you have to help Nemo win a certain number of "trophies" in each game in order to get up to level 5 in the Super Swim Challenge. After that, you can help Nemo prove to Marlin how good a swimmer he is. I love the games you can play. "Dory's Memory Match", "Surfin' With Crush", and "Tank Gang Sing-alongs" are just a few. Hope you have fun playing! I'm sure the kids will. ... Read more

Features

• With the allowance feature each point earned or lost is worth a small amount of money. It is optional but very helpful in encouraging good behaviors and is highly recommended by psychologists to help give children immediate feedback.

Features

• Develop critical learning skills for better academic performance
• Provides a greater understanding of advanced math concepts
• Teaches reading, literature, foreign language, and science
• Helps high-school students achieve higher grades
• Award-winning software features 56 CD-ROMs on 5 DVD-ROMs

Reviews (2)

Pretty Good.
If your child knows all the rules of addition, substraction and the multiplation table, but he/she is just slow; this software can be helpful. This software can create a random set of exercises at various difficulty level and challenge the child to do as much as he/she can in one minute. Pratice makes perfect. It works.

Olympic Winner
My 8 year old daughter had struggled with math since first grade. She loves the practices and challenges of the Olympic games and she especially loves winning the medals. My husband loaded the game and she was able to take it from there with no assistance. She is having fun and learning her math basics. The game is well worth the money. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Disaster takes Mia and her family by surprise when her home catches on fire. By the time the mouse clan can make its escape to safety, the whole house is doomed. Now Mia has only one chance to restore order: Sam Squirrel, who once designed a time machine. If Mia can build the device on his blueprints, she might just be able to go back in time to prevent the fire.

Mia's Math Adventure is a role-playing game merged with a healthy dose of mathematics practice for kids ages 6 to 10. As Mia roams the area surrounding her scorched home, she encounters a plethora of characters who are out to help or hinder her. Players must solve logic puzzles just to help her get from one place to the next. Then, perhaps as things are starting to seem simple, a basic math drill will pop up and gameplay can only go forward after players supply the right answers to the computational questions posed.

This is one of those educational games that strives to offer children everything: top-notch entertainment, solid educational content, good characters, and unique, engaging animations. And where many games fail in this quest, Mia's Math Adventure delivers--for the most part. Some kids may find guiding Mia through the backyard and other game environments a bit of a chore, as the real-time navigation feature is clunky. The process of learning to get around can frequently trigger unneeded advice from the ever-helpful mouse. This is the sole complaint that can be made, however, about a game that is both a genuine learning experience and plenty of fun. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (6)

This Is Not Boring!
My four-year-old daughter is almost through level one now without my help. She complains that it is gboringh but then keeps playing it for more than an hour after her complaint. I think her frustrations come from being unable to easily and quickly navigate around Miafs world. Sometimes when I come to help her because she is stuck, I see that she has clicked on everything too quickly while trying to find what she needs to do next, so the game cannot properly respond. So far the math in level one has been no trouble at all. The difficult part was the days of the week, which she is now learning thanks to this fun, educational program. I look forward to seeing level two soon! The Math Rabbit program we had before this was truly boring for her. This is a welcome addition to our CD-ROM case.

fabulous!!
This is a GREAT program. I use it for homeschooling my son. The graphics are gorgeous, and there are lots of math games to play-- you can either play them in the sequence of the story, or just pick and choose the math games from the "options" menu. The math itself is on the easy side, my six year old can play level two on most games and up to level four on others. I am a math phobe myself, though, and I wish I could have used this program as a child. So I would especially recommend it for parents with math-phobic kids, of any age!

Good Game
This game covers a wide range of difficulty. My 5 year old son plays on level 1, and he can answer the questions himself (he is very smart). My 7 year old son (also very bright) chooses difficulty level 2, and the questions are challenging for him. They have spent many hours playing Mia, and they have enjoyed it so much that we just purchased Mia Science and Mia Reading. Way to go Mia!

Superb graphics - my daughter loved it!
I bought this game to help my 6 1/2 yr old get up to speed on math. She really hates math and is very impatient when I try to teach her. Anyway, she loved playing this game and asked for it every day until she completed it (at level 1). Days later, she is still talking about her favorite parts of the game.

As to the learning of Math, it was not as much activity as I expected... however, the activities that are there are good quality. I did need to sit and help her the first time figure out what to do with each activity (The calculator was particularly hard to figure out how to get the results to display on the right hand side).

I am still searching for math software that actually teaches math, not just queries kids on what they already know. Mia is more of the latter than the former, however, I would buy it again. It is a quality product with superb graphics that my daughter loves. I will be purchasing the other MIA products (Reading and Science).

On Target for age group
The pictures in this package are fascinating and my 7 year old daughter, who loves math,has played this exclusively for the last month. The math is just the right level to provide a doable challenge. It is rather short (or else we are missing something), but my daughter has played it over and over and enjoyed as much each time. It does have a level adjustment, but we have not used that yet. (Note: I like this better than Math Blaster 6-7). ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Can't run software on a computer with 1GB memory
I have the same problem on a computer running Windows 2000 with 1GB memory. The software won't start and gives me the error message "Director Player 6.0 - This program requires at least 3MB of free virtual memory to run". I know there is more than 3MB of free virtual memory on my computer. I tried different virtual memory setting and found that setting virtual memory to 128MB would cause the software to run. It is obvious that the software has mis-calculated the available virtual memory. It interprets virtual memory > 1GB as less than 3MB virtual memory. I have sent email to the technical support at Encore and are waiting for their reply. I share the previous reader's opinion that setting the virtual memory to a lower setting is not an acceptable solution.

However, after I started the program, I like the interface and graphic. The software is better than "Mind Power Math Middle School" from the Learning Company. I also like that it has a game where you can test your skill.

I will write an update after I receive a reply from Encore.

Way around memory problem
Haven't tried this software but had same problem with some other software, the error message: "Director Player 6.0 - This program requires at least 3MB of free virtual memory to run". The only fix is to change your virtual memory settings to something below 500mb or to exactly 4000mb. Of course, I chose 4000mb since I have a large hard drive and almost 1 gig of memory on this pc.

So the full fix is:
From the Windows XP desktop, select the Start button, right-click on the My Computer icon, and select Properties from the resulting menu.

Click on the Advanced tab to bring it forward, and then select the Settings button within the Performance section.

In the Performance Options window, click on the Advanced tab to bring it forward, and then select the Change button in the Virtual Memory section.

Click the Custom size button...
Change the Initial size (MB) setting to 4000
Change the Maximum size (MB) setting to 4000

Select SET to accept the change, which will close the Virtual Memory window. Select OK to close the Performance Options window. And select OK to exit the System Properties window.

$40 + junk = angry customer
This is a faulty and buggy piece of software. It will not run on my PC (XP Home)without me changing my Virtual Memory from 1000 mb to 200 mb...what an absurdity! The developer offers no solution other than to change my VM everytime I want to use their software.

Well, forget it. They're not the only game in town.

It's Great!!
I have the Elementary Advantage, and I'm about to go into Middle School Advantage. I find these programs are excellent. I am a homeschooling parent, and the Elementary Advantage suite have done a great job in assisting me with teaching my child. I've learned a lot myself. My son is about to enter middle school grades, and as I explore the the Middle School Advantage suite, I marvel at how well its put together. I have not run into answers that are wrong as was the claim of one reviewer. But, that does not bother me because you will find wrong answers in educational books written by the best educators. I focus on the how well I am taught the subject. If I can catch the wrong answers then I was taught well. I paid only $24.99 for each suite. I also have a Dell Dimension 4600, and the programs run fine. For all those having a problem running the program. You better get a Dell, Dude! For the money, IT'S GREAT!

Not Recommended
If this program can confuse X and Y intercepts I can only imagine what else may be wrong with it. I just purchased this for my son today, but will be returning it tomorrow. He has a placement test in 2 weeks and I don't want him to blow it because of this faulty software. ... Read more

Features

• Help Putt-Putt plan Pep¿s birthday surprise in this cartoon-style learning adventure
• Kids choose where the characters go; over 20 fun locations to explore
• The adventure changes each time the game is played
• Putt-Putt's friendly and polite nature reinforces good social skills and manners
• Encourages critical thinking, creative problem solving, and teamwork

Reviews (7)

Putt-Putt come back!
My daughter (and I) have loved Putt-Putt. Particularly "goes to the zoo" and "racetrack" games. This game just does not run as well. It is slow and the speech is choppy. The voice of Putt-Putt has changed and not really for the better. I wish I would have read the reviews here before purchasing it. Everything the previous reviewers have said is true.

Buy Putt-Putt Enters the Race Instead!
Pep's Birthday Surprise is a definite let-down from Putt-Putt Enters the Race! The major flaw in the software is that the game is less open-ended and too full of animated scenes ... the charm of the Putt-Putt games is that kids are encouraged to use critical thinking skills and to figure out (sometimes obscure) problems. These features are curtailed in this particular game, as if the designers have lost faith in their audience's ability to problem solve and to do multi-step reasoning ... A minor but disconcerting feature is that Putt-Putt's voice has dropped in pitch, which will prove very distracting to Putt-Putt parent veterans!

Stepford Putt
We had to install this on an XP account with privileges, and we still have no confidence it will not bomb. We gave up trying to install on Windows 2000 and 98 systems.

It takes forever to get through the scene chat. Our children are really patient; this is the first time we've felt compelled to use the Enter key to end the character chats.

The bonhomie is missing. Even down to the choice of Putt's voice. Putt used to seem about 7 years old, and now he sounds like his voice is about to change.

Putt used to be an innocent little guy, helpful and kind, but in this game, he must constantly get rid of Pep in order to discuss the party with co-conspirators. In most scenes, you must first click on Pep so that Putt-Putt can tell him to "go play with your friend", out the door, unsupervised...

Better to buy "Enters the Race" first, then try "Zoo", "Circus", "Moon", and "Parade".

Not designed properly for XP
My 3 year old son loved Putt-Putt enters the race, but I'm disappointed with this game and Window's XP. I had to install the game as Administrator, but my son's account is set up as a limited user to keep him from deleting important data from the computer. The game does NOT work properly from limited accounts and I can't find a patch to fix it. So far it runs, but you can't save/load any games. A simple bug that should have been fixed in normal beta testing. Good ideas, neat pictures - bad programming.

Update: I contacted their technical support. They gave me a useless response and didn't offer to help me solve it. Fortunately some web searches helped me figure out how to fix this.

BAD Technical support for this software.

Waaay too slow
This game was unplayably slow on a computer that was adequate
for previous Humongous Software games.

Humongous is clearly capable of making playable games, so there
must have been something different about his one.
The alliance with Atari is new to me, as is their use of
Bink Video and Miles Sound System from RAD Game Tools.
Note that "Pajama Sam: Life is Tough When You Lose Your Stuff"
also has complaints about slowness on Amazon. ... Read more

Features

• First game to feature DoraÆs cousin, Diego (who can talk to the animals!)
• Jukebox for kids to choose their favorite Dora songs
• English and Spanish counting activities
• Star catching activities just like on the TV series
• Three levels of learning

Reviews (60)

My 2 year old LOVES it. Great fun!
My oldest daughter loves Dora and took to this game immediately. She loves to sit on my lap and play and our father-daughter time is often spent on the computer. She can't get enough.

The 3 levels offer a nice change for children that are getting bored with the game. Some puzzles she plays at level 1 where some puzzles she plays at level 3.

The game is VERY educational and fun and it follows the same format as the cartoon does. She'll turn 3 soon and she still loves it.

I'd also recommend Dora's Backpack Adventure (they make a trip to the library), Little People Discovery Airport, Winnie the Pooh (where Pooh gathers all the friends for Eyores birthday party) and Mickey Mouse (where Mickey and Minnie stop off at Goofy's gas station / Daisey's diner).

Average at best game; Dora only redeeming feature.
Do not buy this game if you are used to the better quality games Humongous software has produced for NickJR characters in the past: Humongous was sold to Infogames, and well, if this title is indicative, much was lost.

This game is saved only by the appearance of Dora. I really feel the two star rating is generous. My daughter is Dora crazy, and even she shows little to no interest in this game (and she loves edutainment computer games).

The program is not well executed, and there is little asttention to detail. One my daughter noticed was that at the begining of the game Dora collects 5 books to return to the liebrary. When she returns the books at the end of the journey, the colors of the books which come out of the backpack don't match the ones put in, prompting my daughter to ask "what happened to the books we put in Dora's backpack...

Dora the Explorer takes you a short and boring journey
My 4 year-old daughter completed this game in less than a half-hour. The short-length of the game actually caused her too cry! I was shocked at the lack of depth in the game given that it weighed in at over 250MB for the install.

She's crying as I type this. "I don't like this game!"

Atari must really hate paying customers!!
Well I would give this more stars if Atari support weren't so terrible!! The only reason I give it 2 stars is because my daughter loves Dora and likes playing this game because there are plenty of activities to try and places to go. HOWEVER, Atari seems to want to force you (due to their prehistoric copy-protection scheme) to keep the CD-ROM in the drive at all times in order to play the game! How ridiculous! Even though I paid good money for this game and it installed on my hard drive, it does not let you run it from your hard drive. Atari told me that you need to have the CD-ROM in to play it and they "cannot help me get around the copy protection". Well I don't know about anyone else's toddlers, but my 2 year old just loves to open the CD-ROM and take discs out to play with. So this leaves me out of luck if the disc becomes scratched after she's done with it! I think Atari should trust their paying customers a little more and allow them to install the game FULLY to their hard drive... if for nothing else to protect their investment! I will never buy another game by Atari because of this. They have no regards for their paying customers.

Boring!
I have a 3 year old, and after a week, she is already bored with this game. For $20, there should be more to do. It constantly repeats itself, and has no real direction. Very limited number of activities available, and really no variety. I would not recommend this game at all. I am currently reading reviews to find something much more interesting. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Reader Rabbit Toddler is part of a curriculum-based system that is designed to keep children learning all through their elementary school years. Simple, brightly colored graphics and classic sing-along songs make all these activities a sure hit with toddlers.

This pack gets kids off to a great start with an introduction to letters and numbers, matching and patterns, music, and mouse skills. In "Follow-Me Theater," children take a physically active role with finger plays and singing along, while in "Baby Animal Bingo," sounds are matched to help parent animals find their babies. The characters of Reader Rabbit and his sidekick, Matt the Mouse, are funny and friendly--and always ready to help if your child needs a hint.

Because these characters are in every unit--all the way to sixth grade--and the basic format for each level is similar, children can dive right in to the new curriculum skills without the distraction of different graphic styles or character guides. This pack includes the next step--Reader Rabbit Preschool--as a free bonus. You'll see quickly why this series is so often used in schools, and we're sure your toddler will love it as much as her future teachers already do. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Absolutely Wonderful
My grandson just turned 3. He loves this CD. It is easy for him to use because he doesn't need to click the mouse. It is still difficult for him to hold the mouse steady when he clicks. If the mouse moves, he doesn't get a response and then gets very frustrated. This CD eliminates that problem. The activities are great fun for him. He likes the coloring and the "bubble castle" best. I highly recommend this CD.

Toddler is Great - PreSchool sucks
Imagine my surprise when I realized my 20-month old had suddenly developed pointing and clicking skills! We started him early with Reader Rabbit's Toddler (he was simply TOO interested in helping mommy "work"), and he was so delighted to be able to bang on the keys and watch stuff happen. By now (2 1/2) he can navigate through the entire program, and now amuses himself by interacting with the characters in ways the creators never imagined (he waits and waits until the mouse appears to tell him what to do, then scares her away with the pointer). Moving on, however, is a challenge - nothing quite lives up to this. We prefer Geoffrey Goes to the Fair and even JumpStart Preschool to RR Preschool, which requires endless busywork before getting rewards - even I don't have the patience!

The BUNNY GAAAAAME!
What would you like to do right now?

The Bunny Game.

It's a nice day out, wouldn't you rather come outside with me and play

The Bunny Game!

Let's go to the park instead, sweety.

The BUNNY GAAAAAME!

This is my major complaint of the game. The scene above is not an every day battle or anything, and my be a result of my daughter's personality rather than any addictive qualitys of the game. However, when she has decided to play it, well, I had better sit down with her to play.

My daughter, who just turned 2, sees Mommy and Daddy cook, so she likes to cook. She sees Mommy and Daddy clean up the kitchen, so she likes to clean up the kitchen. She sees Mommy and Daddy use the computer.... so, having a game that lets her use the computer, I think, is mostly a good thing.

I think we got the game for her right around when she was the recommended 18 months old or so, and when we first started to play it with her we had to help her with most of the activities. I am not sure that she even really understood that she was controling the action. It was, I think, lots of pretty pictures and songs. The game is set up so that your budding computer expert doesn't have to click the mouse to make things happen; a child only has to move the mouse to play any of the games. Still, some of the games are harder than others. Some of the games will reward your toddler with a song for just ramdomly moving the mouse, while others will require a good deal of concentration, which is an asset of the game. Your 18m-3year old will be able to play the games. The hardest skill to master, and what casues the most frustration (for the toddler) is the screen where they choose which game to play.

Notice that I said that When we sit down to play the game. As I already said, your 18Month old will require help, and as you continue to help your child, they may come to expect it, and suddenly playing this game will become a bonding experience if you are that kind of parent, or a chore, if you are another kind of parent, or both if you are somewhere in between. I don't know if I want to leave a 2 year old incharge of $2000 worth of hardware, and what ever else I forgot to back up on the hard drive anyhow. 2 might be a better age to start them on this game, however, from both a cognative and a motor skills perspective. I am not sure that an 18 month understands what is expected of them by the game. You might be better off to surf Tele-Tubbie Websites with them if they want to use the computer with Daddy.

Excellent learning package for up to age 3.
My son received Reader Rabbit Toddler as a gift and we are sold on it's ability to help him learn while having fun. He loves to do all of the tasks and is learning colors, shapes and a host of other skills. The true test of a software program is the willingness to buy the next level - we are doing just that by upgrading to the Preschool program.

My Preschoolers Loved It
With its easy point and click at the pictures approach, even very young preschoolers in my day care could navigate this program. They loved the variety of activities - coloring, nursery rhyme theater, matching animals to their mother, counting and more. I loved it too - it was a great educational tool that was fun for them to explore. ... Read more

Product Description

Share a smile with Hello Kitty and her friends as you discover the fun and magic of Hello Kitty Cutie World. You will have hours of fun playing 8 games that take you from an ice cream shoppe up to the starry sky and everywhere in between! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Math skills come in handy when playing this mystical, mathematicalAladdin adventure. By solving math problems that test skills ranging fromaddition and subtraction to patterns, estimation, and logic, children can savethe day and rescue Aladdin and his friends from the forces of evil. A wickedgenie named Bizarrah has escaped from her lamp and has captured Jasmine, Abu, and Aladdin in Agrabah. Players must do the math to put an end to Bizarrah,once and for all.

Movie-quality animation and an astounding number of multilevel, age-appropriatemath games make this software a classic. Whether kids are playing the DungeonGames, Agrabah Games, Magical Carnival Games, or Pyramid Games, they'll love thechallenging gameplay and adventure this unique software offers.

Games range from Yazoul's Number Wall, which has kids making mental computationsby using addition and subtraction skills, to a fast-paced virtual marble game,Square Up, where geometry and logical reasoning rule as kids race the carnivalbarker by being the first to create squares in a challenging grid screen.Noflying carpet required, just bring along your math skills for hours ofchallenging math fun. (Ages 6 to 9) --Tina Velgos ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent math practice
My son received this when he was 6 years old. He played with it constantly. He helped his 5 year old sister play with him. Today he is 8 and still loves playing at a higher skill level. The attraction for my kids is that their goal is to get the pieces of the magic lamp from which Bizarra escaped. Once they get the pieces, they can capture her. To accomplish this, they have to play various math games to free their friends and get the pieces. They get basic math skill practice and have fun doing it. Even after they've accomplished their goal, they can come back and play any game they want or start a new game. They get practice in basic addition, geometric shapes, sequences, matching patterns, etc.

Pretty but limited
I bought this for my almost 7 year old and played it a little alone first. I thought the graphics were great, and the games seemed interesting enough... BUT.... I didnt realize there was so little to the game. My quick peek at it actually was almost to the end of it. Basically there are only 14 games (I think that's right) and once you've played them... its over. It took my son less than 2 hours to play this game (would have been faster but it was sometimes a bit slow changing screens, and we have a 1gig/Athalon pc.) He liked it cuz he's goal oriented, and solving the story makes it more interesting to him than the ones where you do tasks for no particular reason. But ... what now? A few more hours at different levels and we'll be done with this game....

Does run under NT 4.0
While the package says it is for Win 95/98, it does install and run under NT 4.0 (saying its NT 3.0 and I might have problems with NT) on my Dell 7500 laptop. The installer does want you to change to 256 color mode, but runs okay in 65,536 (16-bit) color mode.

My 8 year old son loves this program.

Do math in Aggrabh
I am horrid at math, and still enjoy this game. While it can be hard, once you get used to it you won't want to quit. You'll want to keep going so you can save Aggrabah from the evil genie who has been unleashed. The only problem is that there is no refrense whatsoever in the plot here to the plot of the movie.

Great thinking skills!
This CD helps kids build a variety of math skills, including addition and logical thinking. The different levels are good, but what I really love is how you can move around and play your favorite games again and again. The only negative is there is no subtraction practice. But kids learn without even realizing it. This is great. I wish there were more like it! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Cluefinder's Math (Ages 9-12)
Cluefinder's Math : Ages 9-12
• Grades 3-12
• Mathematics
COMMENTS:
Students can build math skills as they solve mysteries. There are 15 games at 10 different skill levels, which build more than 25 key math skills, including number computation, fractions and decimals, tables and graphs, and early geometry. Logic and problem solving skills are used as the student attempts to piece together clues to deduce the answers to the mystery.

ClueFinder's Math includes exceptional graphics and animation and a great storyline. I would not recommended ClueFinder's Math for the struggling student who needs instruction and practice with math skills, but for an average or above-average math student who enjoys fast-switching games and wants to work at quick-thinking and multi-tasking. I also do not feel that the three levels of play cover all basic math concepts for children ages 9-12 and at some levels there are both extremely easy as well as extremely difficult problems. Additionally some students may become frustrated with the speed at which they are required to respond as they solve problems.

CLASSROOM CONNECTION:
I would have students work individually to work their way through the village, solving math puzzles in the eight activity locations, and earning clues in an attempt to discover what treasure was stolen, where it is hidden, and who stole it.

A fun and intresting game
The Cluefinders' have all sort's of games out. Some of the games are a little easier to figure out but the math game is still really fun. It teaches all sort's of math that gears you up for 5th grade. It is fun and intresting. ... Read more

Features

• Action-packed first-person cyberpunk thriller with intense shooter and role-playing elements
• Go anywhere, do anything--the game adapts to the player's play-style and strategy
• Tools and biomods enable the player to see through walls, run faster than cars, leap 40 feet in the air, and more
• A new benchmark for graphics, sound and physics

Reviews (67)

WOW agh cant wait
incredibly long deus ex review
i dont get it, everyone hates the fuzzy look yet to me it makes it that much more authentic finishing off the edges of objects..
i havent played the game but the demo graphics were truly amazing, incredible, awesome and uber. If you cant afford the amazing comp you'l need to play it then dont bother buying it...duh..
this games stunning graphics coupled with the immense havok physics engine makes the game get as close to the real world as youl get at the moment, until halflife 2 anyway. I mean the ai created a sorta barricade of soldiers near a doorway i had to pass, i saw them assemble through the wall
just in case your wondering what im running it on, im using a
athlon xp 3000+
1024 ddr ram
256mb radeon 9800pro
maxtor hard drive 120gig
now i dont know what kinda computers you people have got, but dont diss the game PLEASE! you give it a bad name when the game deserves more than that. As i say ive only played the demo but i love this game its too bad its not out in england yet.....
what ive gone on is the demo play alone, so what the games gonna be like i cant imagine, the plot, the extra weapons, the supposed being able to meld your own choices, yet to be confirmed to me and the rest of course.

In conclusion, this game is so much better than any other game on the market !at the moment!. it'l quickly be put behind with the line of games that are coming soon that work on lower end pcs and are better in every way.

but if you own an amazing pc,, dont miss out

If you own a bad, weak, average pc its not for you wait for hl2!

agh damnit, i have to write essay's smaller than this at school why cant they all be this easy?!

Disappointing and buggy (version 1.0)
If you've played the first Deus Ex, chances are you will be a little disappointed with is predecessor. There are a some improvements, however. DX2 adds real-time shadows, which makes some of the environments a little more immersive than the first game. There are also some sub quests that characters within the game will give you. I got a solid 12 hours of play out of the game.

Now the bad stuff. The AI is deplorable; the characters and enemies simply don't have realistic responses. Once you have a few of your biomods maxed, there is no competition. I double-crossed characters throughout the game with no consequences. The physics engine is a distraction if anything. There is no apparent difference in weight of the various objects. The story is boring and undeveloped, as are the characters. When it came time to complete the game, I really didn't care what the outcome was. The dubbing is typically cheesy.

The engine doesn't seem so great. Levels take FOREVER to load and are pretty small. This kills the effect of being in a world because you have to wait 20-30 seconds for a different part of the map to load every few minutes. There are a bunch of rendering problems which create visual artifacts (Radeon 9700 Pro). When I killed the final character and the cut scene began to play, the game crashed and corrupted my files. It also locked up several times after a few hours of play

There is no god in this machine.
The original Deus Ex was an incredible game. Although each of its individual parts (the action, the graphics, the stealth) had been outdone by numerous other games, it managed to mesh them together into something much greater, thanks to superior writing, characterization, and immersiveness.

This game is not Deus Ex.

The plot of this game is practically identical to that of Deus Ex, except it makes you think even less of the issues at stake. No matter which side you support or actions you take, they have NO relevance until you near the end of the game. The characters are limp and lifeless compared to the first game, and the recurring ones are shadows of their former selves. I couldn't find myself CARING, though I did try. The plot consists of running to and fro doing things not because they're important to you, but because others tell you to do so. The non-linearity is a joke, and despite what the hype implies, you have no control over the storyline except at the end. Game-critical characters are STILL rendered invulnerable in lame ways (people shut down your weapons or when you enter the area. Including batons and other melee weapons. How does THAT work?). Anyone you can kill is simply not important to the story, or has outlived their usefulness.

The game allows you to play a male or female Alex D, but this is really nothing but a cosmetic issue (a couple of lines of dialogue by NPCs change, but that's it). Neither model looks particularly good, and lacks the "personality" of JC from the first game.

The graphics have a brief "neat" factor, but are nothing special. The lighting is superior to most games, but the textures, models, and movements feel stark, bland, and artificial. In some ways, the same charge could be leveled at the first game, but the time put into creating this new engine was not time well spent.

The smaller size of the levels (due to the hardware limitations of the XBox compared to PC) gives you a feeling of claustrophobia, and requires numerous level loads. Not only is the constant interruption disruptive to any feeling of immersion, but the loads can take around 30 seconds of waiting, AND the game consistently minimized during loading, showing off my desktop until it was ready to load. Total failure to captivate me. Level design is fair, but nothing special. The small size of the levels means exploration is easy, short, and not very entertaining.

The skill system has been removed altogether from the game, as has the traditional augmentation system, replaced by the "biomod" system. You may select different biomods for 5 slots (2 "normal biomod" possibilities, and 1 black market). The biomods are merely convenient little tricks in DX: IW, but not even close to critical in the way you play the game, minor "powerups" instead of demonstrations of your superhuman nature.

Inventory has been drastically changed. Instead of shuffling your gear around (which was sometimes an annoyance in the first game), you are granted a number of inventory slots, each slot capable of holding ANY object. Whether it's 5 rocket launchers, or 5 knives, they use up the exact same amount of space. It feels contrived and tends towards the inconvenient.

Universal ammo and weapons. The UA concept seems to attract universal hatred, and rightly so. All weapons use the same ammo (although different amounts of it), which means if you run out of ammo for one gun, you're screwed unless you have a melee weapon for backup. There is no reloading, either, which makes the game blander.

The game allows you to add 2 modifications per weapon, although these modifications have no visual effect, nor do they really contribute any "cool" factor to them.

The weapons are not well-balanced, either. The small size of the levels removes the necessity of the sniper rifle, the SMG eats through lots of ammo while doing less damage than the pistol, and it takes several seconds to render anyone unconscious with the riot prod (as opposed to quick thwack with a melee weapon) My secret to success in the game was in using nothing but the police baton. And without sneaking. That's right, I'd run up and hit things with the baton and take them out. From soldiers to giant battlebots...the baton took them all in just a few hits. This is wrong.

The length and depth of this game is extremely shallow. I finished it in about 10 hours after completing all the sidequests, and there was maybe only an hour or two of replay value. There are some news terminals and "datacubes" (universal replacement for books, newspapers, etc.), which have some neat things to say, but compared to the first game, they are sorely lacking. No longer do you punch in PIN numbers and such, the game does it for you. There are no more lockpicks, only multitools, which kills that kind of variety. The game has devolved into a simple substandard action shooter, with a few gimmicks that have been done better elsewhere.

From a hardware perspective, this game is terrible. My machine is a 3Ghz, 512MB RAM, 64MB ATI Radeon Mobility card (laptop), and even on the MINIMAL settings, I ran into consistent choppiness. When I did turn all settings to max (for grading the graphics), it became a LONG slideshow. I am sure that XBox players would have a better time of it, the PC version of DX: Invisible War is merely a port of that version.

Compared to the first, this game is a MAJOR disappointment, and I would urge those lucky enough to play the first to save their money, unless they wish to collect IW in a bargain bin. The failed attempts to "streamline" and convert the game to XBox specifications go only to prove that less is...less. But despite all the negative criticism I have given in this review, the game is not TERRIBLE, just "fair".

Beware of compatibility problems
If you think you've got a nice, relatively new computer, therefore you should be able to play Deus Ex. Be careful and read the video card support list very carefully. I have a Dell Dimension 2.4 gHz machine with a Geforce 4MX video card. Deus Ex will not play on this video card. Your card must have Pixel shader 1.1 capability to run. I bought the game and it will not work on my machine. I fell into this trap because I didn't know what the exact video card in my machine was. I assumed that, because it was relatively new and not bottom of the line, it would run pretty much any game out there. Live and learn. Don't make the same mistake as I did.

I'm rather discusted with the deus ex creators. I've been eagerly waiting for this game and now I can't play it. They didn't even give me the option of defeating pixel shading. So what if it wouldn't look as nice, at least I would be able to play it.

Oh well, The reviews I have read say it was a real disappointment anyway. I'm just glad I didn't run out and buy it for $50 when it was first released. I only got stuck for $20.

I guess this game will sit on my shelf until I upgrade my system in a few years. Hopefully it will be compatable with the system I buy then.

Just Short of Perfection
The rumors were true: Deus Ex was the greatest game ever to grace the video/computer game market. Any attempt to follow up with a sequel would be an uphill battle. In a way, Eidos succeeded. Invisible War is slick sci-fi action RPG. The graphics are a tremendous update from the original, and the levels and characters offer greater interaction. The weapons are even more customizable, allowing you to turn a pistol into a silent glass-shattering tranq gun, or refit your Uzi to spew explosive shrapnel and use half the ammo.

However, while some aspects of the gameplay have been enhanced, others have diminished. Most notable is the storyline. While Deus Ex put forth a clear struggle of establishment vs. freedom fighters vs. secret society, Invisible War basically has you choose sides between 4 power-hungry factions, with oddly similar ideologies. There is no "for the good of the people" or "preserve the world" faction - in the end, you will be helping to put a single person or group of people in charge of the world.

However, if you go into this game looking for just an enjoyable romp, and not something to top the original, you will be in for a treat. Recommended for action enthusiasts and RPG fans. ... Read more

Features

• In Thunder And Lightning Aren't So Frightening, kids will use their critical thinking skills to help Pajama Sam fix the world's weather patterns
• In Pajama Sam's One-Stop Fun Shop, kids can design their own art or write their own stories, to exercise their artistic abilities
• Pajama Sam's Lost & Found has you & Sam working together to collect all the toys & items you possibly can!
• Ages 3-8

Amazon.com Product Description

Preschoolers (ages 3 to 5) discover core learning skills in this delightful age-appropriate learning environment featuring Reader Rabbit and friends. Kids help Reader Rabbit bring back the sparkles, requiring a trip to the Land of Sparkalot to find out what is blocking Mount Brill, the source of sparkly stars. Explore six fun activities full of adventure and discovery. Along the way, Reader Rabbit and friends guide kids through prereading, counting, math, and language activities that will help your child shine like a star.

Reader Rabbit Preschool 2002 is part of the award-winning Reader Rabbit children's educational software series. Learning activities include Lighting Bug Matchup, Sparkle Rocket Math, and Create-a-Dancequake. Kids also enjoy this title's fun music, stories, movies, and characters, while the program's progress reports let parents see just where their child is advancing and where they might need some help.

So that you're never without Reader Rabbit, Reader Rabbit Preschool 2002 comes with the bonus CD-ROM Reader Rabbit's Dreamship Tales. It's bursting with added activities, videos, tunes, and more than 100 printable games and activities--a great way to keep the fun going after you've turned the computer off. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

good for preschoolers if you want them using the computer!
This program doesn't teach anything special that is not easily taught outside of a computer game. Success at the game will be had most quickly if the child already knows the skills needed to play the game (see below, i.e. already knows their basic shapes). If you want your child using the computer during the preschool years then this is a safe and good bet. If your child doesn't know everything this program covers already then they are sure to learn it quickly if they like the game and are not discouraged. There is much more to phonics than this program covers, of course.

We held off introducing our son to the computer until he was almost 4.5 years old. We strictly limit what he can do on the computer and he does not use it much, sometimes going 2 months or so without using it. We purchased this program when our oldest just turned 5, at which time he already could start up the computer, open a program, change CDs and close the entire system down all by himself. I thought it best to buy an easier Reader Rabbit game and see how he likes it rather than start off with the Kindergarten or the phonics Reader Rabbit. If you have a 3 or a 4 year old (or even a 2 year old) that you want using a computer game then this one is great (see section on phonics for a possible difficult part though).

Being unfamiliar with children's computer games I was surprised that much of this is almost like a video on television, there are songs that seem to be about 3 minutes long and very graphic and long introductions to the program every time it is started and before each game. The characters on screen tell the user what to do. I was disappointed it did not come with written instructions, as when my son needed help there was nothing I could turn to. Goodness knows I am not sitting with him all the time watching him play, so I miss the already-spoken instructions for the overall game. Instructions for the mini-games that they play can be repeated by simply clicking on a certain character on the screen.

I sat down to play it as a new user and we played for over an hour. I was annoyed that the instructions are not clear. Specifically, the program has the user doing a little job to earn a gem called a brillite. They wanted 5 yellow brillites to start. We did all the jobs but there was a missing brillite. There was no instruction as to how to get this missing brillite so we re-explored every area on the program's map and began repeating jobs because we didn't know what else to do. That began earning us different colored brillites. It is a little unclear to me as to how to win this game, they say to gather brillites but we really don't know how many of each and how to exactly get them except play in a random manner repeating the games. I'd much prefer them to say "repeat all the games to earn the blue brillites in order to earn the missing yellow brillite" or some other such informative instruction.

This is truly geared for preschool age (3 or 4) or for any age that already knows the 6 colors of the rainbow, circle, square, oval, triangle, diamond shapes, if they can count to 10 and follow oral directions. The hardest part of the game, which may be difficult for preschool aged children and may cause frustration, is the phonics portion. An object comes along on a raft and there are 3 sparkle shakers above it and the user must choose which sparkle shaker (with a letter on it) represents the first letter of the object. The first go round has the word written under the object (i.e. violin) but after that round is won the object comes out without a word. Shame on them for showing a giraffe and giving both a g and a j as options! Bad choice for beginners to phonics! The user will be told if they make an incorrect choice and they can narrow it down by process of elimination. The game with the train and matching the object shape is more of a fast paced game to improve hand and eye coordination and fast mouse-usage than a true matching game-if they pick the match right after the fast changes they are doomed. On the box it says this does drawing and coloring but that is a stretch: the kids are told to paint a certain shape a certain color and they simply click once on the proper color and click once on top of the shape and it is instantly colored in. There is nothing about drawing going on there! The only math here is counting up to 10 (it is advertised as having math on it).

There is nothing offensive or questionable about this game, the language is clean, etc.

This is a fun game for preschoolers (I found it too easy for my just turned 5 year old). It is very entertaining in that it has interludes in between games and songs with a few minutes of on screen entertainment. The songs are catchy. The graphics are very good compared to the old days of Space Invaders and such!

Good Program
I purchased this program to help my 3 year old son sharpen and develop his basic preschool skills. I found this program to have a good theme and my son was very interested in the character's various actions, songs and dances used to accompany the instruction. Skill levels can be chosen to pace the progression dependeing on the need of the child. The program is very user friendly to an adults helping their children. Progrmas are easily exited out of and information can be saved to log the progress of the children users. I recommend this software to parents who want to help their preschoolers get a head start on Kindergarten education.

Skip this one
My son (now almost 4) is pretty academically bright and pretty good with a computer mouse. We bought this game for him just before he turned 3 last year. What a disappointment! Now, we are a big computer game family, and our son has played a few other titles which we have loved (Little People Discovery Airport, Ollo Saves the Fair, Putt-Putt, and a few others). We loved Reader Rabbit Toddler and Reader Rabbit Baby, which were designed very well. Unfortunately, Reader Rabbit Preschool did not stack up.

As usual, the game has a creative story behind it, and there is a goal that involves collecting things. These are wonderful motivators. However, the game skill levels seem either much to easy (matching bugs) or pretty advanced (counting out just the right number of bugs to fill a rocket, including addition and subtraction as the game increases in difficulty) for a "typical" preschooler. I should add that I used to teach preschool and kindergarten, so I have an idea of what is developmentally appropriate. This game ranges from boring to frustrating with very little in between. Some activities, such as the "painting" activity at the waterfall, require very very good mouse control, as the shapes tend to be very small, and the child must click in just the right areas.

I highly recommend skipping this game. Our son is now happily playing Reader Rabbit Kindergarten (the Summer Camp one)with very little trouble.

Too much advertisement and lacks parental controls
I had previously purchased Reader Rabbit for baby and toddler and was thrilled with the product. However, I cannot say the same of the Reader Rabbit Preschool. This CD launches with a page that gives my [child] 6 choices of where to go. Only one is the educational program. The others are advertisements for Star Flyers, Clue Finders, Zoombinis, the Oregan Trail, and Carmen Sandiego. Each of these plays a short movie and gives my [child] the option of launching the internet to download more. I certainly do not want my child on the internet, and I did not purchase the CD so that the Learning Company could target my ...child with advertisement. I wanted him to learn something. It quickly became a fight to keep him in the educational portion of the CD. I called Broderbund, and after waiting 25 minutes to speak with a technician, was told that there was nothing that could be done. There are no parental controls. I asked to speak with a supervisor to discuss my concerns, and was told I could go to the web site and e-mail them. I would not recommend this CD.

They've got it almost right
This is the most educational of the programs I've found for the preschool set, but there are still disappointments. I wish they would do more with the alphabet - they need more variety of words, a combination of small letters and capitals. My three-year-old mastered the top level within a few weeks, simply because he memorized the words they were using, and then quickly grew bored. The musical numbers are cloying and irritating. But the rocket counting game is terrific -- a real help teaching small kids the meaning of numbers. Overall, I've yet to find better, but I hope the designers of the Reader Rabbit series keep trying. ... Read more