Reviews (44)

Jumpstart Advanced toddler
We bought this as a Christmas present for our son that just turned 2. We were looking for an educational computer game for him and we already had Reader Rabbit Toddler (which he loves). When I first started Jumpstart Adv. Toddler I thought it was way too simple, then I discovered that most activities have 2 levels. Level 1 is pretty basic and doesn't require the kids to do a whole lot...my son was very bored with this. Level 2 is much better...in fact it is more advanced than Reader Rabbit. Most of the activities do not require toddlers to click on the mouse, but if you can click it goes faster. I was surprised by how fast my son figured out the activities. He can do most everything by himself, but he still needs me to help him navigate some. This package comes with 3 cd's - school time, song time and art time. THe song time cd has several fun songs that he just loves. Overall I really like this game and have found it to be very educational. As soon as my son has mastered clicking the mouse we will be getting the preschool version.

JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster
Knowledge Adventure's Jump Start Study Helpers Math Booster... is another real winner for all children in grades 1st-5th - like is partner - Knowledge Adventure's Jump Start Study Helpers Spelling Bee - this program has cute, fast paced, great music and sound three styles of arcade-like games to teach your children their math facts - no more boring math flash cards - learn math on a fast paced pinball machine, or arrange math facts for the the "burpers" or "smack" space ships and and space rocks to get correct answers to math problems - fast and fun - even for an old Grandma, me - all games are controled using the arrow keys and space bar excep to the outer space game where you shoot with a mouse - like the Spelling Bee it has over 800 pre-programmed math problems - all basic subjects are covered - addition, subtraction, muliplication, division, decimals and percentages in SIX different leveals - will auto advance at your child's own speed - on screen instructions for everything - also, like its partner, Jump Start Study Helpers Spelling Bee - you can program your child's "real" weekly math problems in to this program so they can learn their "real" weekly school math lessons in a fun arcade style of learning - you will love it for the small price tag - your children will love it for all of the fun they will have - and you will love it even more when your child brings home a A+ grade on their report card in Math. The [low price] is "right" - please buy it - once again this old Grandma is happy to be able to send my first grader, and my second grader back to school this year with this GREAT study tool. Knowledge Adventure can be very proud of these two programs ther Jump Start Study Helpers Math Booster and their Jump Start Study Helpers Spelling Bee - buy them both and enjoy!
A very pleased Grandmother,
Jacqueline Lee Wilson

JumpStart Spanish a winner
My 5 year old loves her new JumpStart Spanish program. She has learned to count in spanish and her colors so far. Very fun games and rewards. She is really picking things up fast. We have not had any real computer problems, it has locked up once, but that has happened on other software as well. The sound works well. For the price I would recommend this as a beginning spanish program.

My daughter simply loves it!!!!
My 2 year old loves this set of CDs. I found that it reinforces all the things we are teaching her.... shapes, colors, numbers the ABC. The duck that sings is very sweet to their ear. I found it sooo great I am buying it for my daughter's school so the other kids can benefit as well.

Jump Start 4TH GRADE ADVANCED
I rented this software from the Library. It is a 3 disc program. My 3rd grader (almost 4th grader) loves the Ultimate Field Trips and Mystery Club volume 3. The fundamentals disc is a little too hard for her right now, so it is challenging. I played it because it looked fun and it was fun for me to play. I love the "mystery" tone of the software. I like these programs because there are fun games that do not get boring, and while your kids are playing the games, they are also learning a lot. I am going to purchase this software and the 3rd grade ADVANCED program so my child can review through the summer. ... Read more

Features

• Eerie new fun-filled adventures with the Mystery, Inc. gang
• Help Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma solve the crime
• Gather clues, set traps, use disguises, and avoid scary monsters
• Based on the live action movie Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed
• Game levels based on actual movie stills and artwork

Reviews (3)

Great game
My 7 year old loves this game. He was able to complete the whole game the first day he played. It kept his interest and wasn't frustrating. There is a bonus game at the end that requires a code to be entered, which Scooby Doo was supposed to have disclosed at the end of the Scooby Doo 2 movie. My son never heard the code, maybe he left the theater before the code was given, but THQ E-mailed us the code. The only thing that would make this better is if the player could change difficulty levels. When you play again, the game is the same. But it is interesting, and graphics are good.

Well done.
Excellent. So much to do. Not too hard for the younger crowd. But, not too simplistic for a 30 something ,like myself, who has grown up with Scooby Doo. Incredible graphics for a value game. Very fast load times. All of the original voices are here from the movie (not the series, of course). A cute plotline with many very well done cut-scenes. My five year old and myself have been playing this for a few days. We are hooked. This installed without a glitch and even had an installation feature that helped me with some Direct X problems i had been having. A truly good game that doesn't sell the player short. Fan or not, you'll love this.

Cool Game
There are 18 total mini games in this Scooby-Doo game. Some of the games are pretty simple (like "To the Nines") and some of the games are more challeging (like "Reverse the Current") A good mix of fun for kids ages 6-10. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Speedblade down roadways, do a 720 in a half pipe, or dodge obstacles as quickly as you can, all while learning and practicing your typing skills. Filled with five 3-D, animated inline skating events and 20 levels of letters, numbers, and punctuation symbols, students master their typing skills en route to qualifying forRoller Typing's Star Row or Z-Hall of Fame. Throughout, Roller Typing teaches proper fingering techniques, improves accuracy, and develops speed in both untimed and timed trials. Perfect for kids and adults. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Can teach a 6 year old to type!!!
I bought this as a gift for my six year old who wanted to learn to type on the computer, tried other products at the library and the librarian recommended this one. I installed this easily on an old pentium 166 running Windows 98. It runs better than most kids software. It does have some issues with typing too fast or too slow but frankly I think it helps you place your fingers cleanly and accurately.

The GREAT thing about this program is that my six year old loves it and it is teaching him good typing skills. The graphics are very interactive, if you mistype the characters (called bladers) perform comparable to your performance. The different events, cones, cow jumping (a real hoot), half pipe, sidewalk and speed skating concentrate on different typing skills. You jump more cows and do more flips over them if you are more accurate in that event. The sidewalk event requires both speed and accuracy and is definitely a challenge. The skater skates along as words are displayed for your to type. One mistake and he runs into an obstacle and flys to fall flat on his face. The graphics are redundent but it motivates the heck out of my six year old.

If you are older and too computer savvy you may not like this. Particularly if you can already type. (Though I could see how using it would improve my skills). For kids just learning to type it makes a very boring (remember high school typing class, before computers, for those readers over 30)really a lot of fun.

Teenaged kids who watch too much TV and play ultra action type video games will also find this pretty mundane. But they really should learn good typing skills anyway and this would help them.

Non-functional, out-of-date software
Marketing gives the impression that this is a 3D interactive, when in fact it is not. After the interactions occur, and sometimes during, you are shown a canned quicktime movie. Same movie may be shown over and over and over...

Any program that requires Windows users to back off of Quicktime 6 and install 2.5 from the CD-ROM is useless.

Tried it on our Mac also and found that if you type too fast, it misses your keystrokes, and counts the stroke as an error! If you type too soon, even after the visual prompt is displayed, it misses the keystroke.

Distracting visuals and too great a visual reliance on the keyboard chart at the expense of the source text hinders learning. IF you make a single mistake, you lose and have to start over.

This program may have functioned well in its day (though I don't see how that could be), but it is out-of-date, in addition to being very poorly designed.

STAY AWAY!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

In the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron game, kids play as the fast and fearless horse, Spirit; his love, Rain; and other characters from the animated children's movie. Kids search for Rain and the Homeland herd across five sweeping levels. Battle evil horse rustlers, and try to jump over challenging obstacles. Along the way, kids can collect special items or race with other horses to reveal the secrets of Spirit and his friends. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Pretty good game
My 7 year old daughter loves the movie and was thrilled to see the game in the store. Setup of the game was easy and although she was new to adventure games of this type (pick up items, complete tasks, solve puzzles) she picked up on it very quickly. Graphics and sound are very well done, although the music can get annoying but it can be shut off. As mentioned before, Spirit needs to take care of Rain and in a short time, my daughter who felt sorry for Rain at the beginning was now saying "Oh geez, Rain needs more water, Rain needs more food...", but fortunately, this only lasts for the first quarter of the game. Once Rain is healed and feeling better she doesn't require any more help for the rest of the game. The goal of the game is to rescue fellow horses in the herd and the game can be completed in about 6-8 hours of play time. Sadly, there is nothing more to the game, no other adventures or variations if the game is replayed. Overall the game is well designed and fun to play, but could use a little more.

Fun game!
This game is interesting, fun, and sometimes challenging. I beat it in about a week, but it was still a great game. You have to think to figure things out. It gets anoying when Rain is thirsty or hungry when you're in the middle of doing something, but it's worth it. I recommend this game to anyone looking for a good game you'd like to play over and over again.

Not for the younger child
My 4 yr old daughter loves Spirit and anything to do with horses. We bought this game early 2003 and was very frustrated how hard it is to play for a young child. This game is for the 8+ range defenitly. I had to play it while my daughter watched and I finished the game and now she can roam around Spirit's homeland free. If you are looking for a game for the avid younger (toddler) horse lover, I suggest Barbie Horse Adventures. My daughter would rather play that than the Spirit game. It is a good game to play and it is quite fun....however, for a much older child.

Great Game For us 10-Year-Olds!!!!!!!!!!!
it is,but when I am ABOUT to free a horse,like Fuego,Rain wants something,like a sugar cube,when im about to grab things for that minigame,its kinda confusin'

Great movie--great game!
Thoroughly enjoyable! My daughter loved the movie and has owned the software for over a year and still plays it. Never a dull moment with this. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Kids learn about vowels and consonants with Phonics Excelerator's two active learning titles: Vowel Games and Consonant Games. With eye-catching graphics, lively music, and captivating animation, these titles transform learning about short and long vowels, consonant phonic skills, and reading into an adventure. Kids join Lily, Buddy, and the rest of the Super Star Gang for 30 interactive learning games, while the Super Star Reward system helps parents celebrate their child's achievements. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very nice software, my son loves it
For money, this 2 cds set software is really a nice deal. I had
hard time to talk about phonics with my son who is 5 years old. He
won't pay attention to learn the sound of letters. This software really caught his attention, he sits there for hours and practice. Those games are very cute and helpful. After two days play, he already made a lot of progress. It takes off some pressures from me.
We love it! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

My 8 yr old loves I spy!
For those who say this is boring, maybe your kids should just stick to video games. My son is loving the books and the computer games. He conquers them pretty quickly and we have to buy more but hey, it's getting his mind working looking for hidden items. We went for an open house at his school a few months ago and the teacher picked up an I Spy book and said that it was the main thing all the kids fought over in class. We love all the books, computer games and the gameboy game that is out. Good investment for little thinkers out there!

Can't find 12th ladybug!
I really like this game but I am annoyed that I can't find the last ladybug in the find me game. I can find no game hint support sites either. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it a bug (ha ha) in the program? I have spent weeks looking but always find the ones I've already found. Can anyone out there help me? I am not a child, but my daughter can't find it either. Apparantly the game will not finish until all bugs are found because I have found all the treasures. Does this game not have more than one complete game to play? I thought it had 3 like treasure hunt.
Thanks,

Will Keep You Thinking....
My 6 year old daughter loves this game. It is not easy and keeps her thinking. I some times find some of the items hard to find but with persistance you will find them. It is never boring. The whole family enjoys this software.

Elementary Kids Love It!
I am a computer lab teacher in an elementary school. Last year, I used this software for quite a few weeks when my Kindergarten through Grade 3 students came in for activity period. Students in grades 4-6 would beg to get a chance to use the software when their assignment for the day was completed.

It was a stretch for Kindergarten to find some of the items, because they did not recognize some of the items in the riddles, but I made sure to point these out in lessons and then circulated to help them more.

It was exciting to watch as students became absorbed in this activity, and most of them grew in their visual and verbal awareness. Children in grades 1-3 could either click to hear the descriptions or read for themselves.

Yes, it is on the shelf this year, but will taken out to be used in two years. This year I bought I Spy Spooky Mansion for use, and next year hope to get the Î Spy Treasure software if I can find the funding.

I Spy School Days-big bore
My six year old great nephew completed all of the activities within two hours. He was moderately interested in the beginning and bored by the time he finished. I watched as he played, and thought they were boring, too. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Sir Topham Hatt is facing infrastructure problems: the island of Sodor needs more lines if it is to accommodate its increasing number of rail travelers, and Sir Topham has asked for your help in Building the New Line.

Load the CD-ROM, sign in, and meet Thomas and all his familiar friends. Choose "Junior" or "Senior" Engineer mode, depending on ability (or confidence!), and start laying your track. Once your track is in place, move through the activities to deliver cargo and add landscaping features such as trees, bridges, tunnels, and so on. Once you have your track laid out to your satisfaction, advance to "Play Mode" and bring your new line to life.

Your engine can now travel around the track, interacting with all the other familiar personalities and sights of Sodor. Click on the items you put in place in build mode and complete the resulting activities. For example, click on the hay bales in the Farm Yard and watch as they spill on the track. Get your engine to help clear them away, so the track is safe and debris-free. Switch tracks, control your speed, and visit the Works if you need any maintenance.

Similar to previous CD-ROMs in the Thomas & Friends series, the sound and graphical quality of the package is great, and all the characters are faithful reproductions of their book and screen counterparts. The package is fun and will amuse as well as challenge first PC users, as they learn mouse control and hand-to-eye coordination, as well as other basic PC skills (clicking, moving, cause-and-effect of onscreen activities). There are plenty of rewards to keep little ones interested, and lots of fun to be had along the way. (Ages 3 to 5)--Susan Naylor ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Excellent for a 3-year old!
My son was able to play this game immediately. He couldn't be torn away from it to open more Christmas presents. Not educational in any way, but for "Thomas-philes" it's perfect! The software was simple to load and run.

skip this one
My son is also an avid Thomas Fan and we bought this since he had played the Great Festival Game several times. We run Windows XP and couldn't get the game to load properly. When we finally got into the game there wasn't much to do. The Great Festival Game is a much better deal.

I wish I could install this so I could see what it is about.
Amazon.com listed that this game would work with Windows 95. After many failed attempts to install it, I read on the packaging that it only would work with Windows 98, and above. How can we review it, if we can't even install it. Ordering online it is very important that all system information is correct. This wasn't. Too bad, my son will miss not being able to play Thomas as promissed.

My 2 1/2 loves it!!
My 2 1/2 loves this game. Once he learned to use the mouse. He could play this game for hours. I bought Jumpstart Toddler to help him practice using the mouse. Now that he is a pro he can play Thomas for hours by himself. This game works on our OS-Windows 2000.

Is that it?
As others have mentioned, there really isnt a lot here. Despite the appeal of the Thomas characters, my 2 1/2 year-old was bored very quickly.

We also have a very well-worn copy of Thomas and the Great Festival Adventure, which actually has puzzles and seems to teach something other than just mouse skills. I was expecting something of at least that quality as was very disappointed.

Also I should mention that whilst the interminable instructions are being recited, the mouse cursor is hidden. This caused a great deal of confusion as my son couldn't work out why the mouse wasn't working all of a sudden.

In short, a regrettable purchase (I will check the reviews next time!) ... Read more

Features

• Interactive treasure hunt and cookie-making extravaganza including cookie recipes
• 4 deliciously-fun activities hold more surprises each time they're played
• 3 levels accommodate a wide range of dexterity and mental aptitude
• Kids can play independently--the software provides help when a child needs it
• Builds strategic thinking, listening, and spatial reasoning skills

Reviews (5)

The Licensing Company
Very little educational value in this title. My daughter was bored after about 15 minutes. The whole underlying game is poorly planned and very disjointed. It was slapped together quickly to cash in on the name. The background music was the best part.
For this price, perhaps it will kill a rainy afternoon and get your kid smiling. But don't expect much after that.
I would highly recommend the I Spy series (only two now). They are much more engaging and kids get a sense of accomplishment AND learn in the process.
Oh and if you have a mac, forget it. We couuldn't get past the start menu. We have PCs in the house - it was fine on them. But don't waste your energy if you are mac only.

Glad to own it!
We've gave this to our 4 year old daughter for Valentine's day and she loves it! She figured out how to play the games right away. The graphics are great and it was berry easy to install on our PC:) We also have Bob the Builder-Bob Builds a Park, Rolie Polie Olie-The Search for Spot and Dora the Explorer-Backpack Adventure on CD-ROM. This was a great educational and fun CD-ROM to add to our collection of computer games. Oh, what fun to be a little girl:)

Cute, fun, and educational
We bought this for our 5 year old daughter for her birthday. So far, my daughter, son(6), and niece(6) have all been glued to it! It's cute with big colorful graphics. The kids all figured out how to play right away! We have a box full of software, but I think this one is going to be a favorite.

Great game!!
This is a great game. It took a little while to figure out the object of the game but once I did it's great. It would have been easier if I would have read the instructions first instead of trial and error. My five year old daughter loves the graphics. She plays it all by herself and is already good at it. (we just got it today.) It's a really cute game.

I read in another review that it's not such a great game. The woman mentioned she had a 2 year old. Well, the box says for 4 to 6 years old. It's definitely not for a 2 year old.

I had no problem installing the game and I just dragged the shortcut onto the desktop. I'm glad I bought it.

Shortcake fell short...
I had some trouble installing the software could not get shortcut to work kept wanting to reinstall. The games are not intuitively obvious so it took some time for an adult to figure out the object of the game to explain it to my 2 year old. Some I still don't get. The graphics are great beautiful colors all the characters are there so my little one loved watching the pictures. Small Children will need an adult to play with them. ... Read more

Features

• Join Mermaid Barbie on an amazing underwater journey
• 3 exotic undersea worlds; 7 fun-filled games and activities
• Play musical instruments; help compose the Song of the Sea
• Decorate and invite undersea friends to a sea celebration
• Design a crown and necklace for Barbie to wear

Reviews (1)

Only suitable for the youngest Barbie fans
This game is very cute and has a variety of mazes, searching-type activities, and the crucial jewelry-decorating section that is necessary in any Barbie game that somehow overlooks fashion and makeup, but my 7-year-old completed the entire game inside 20 minutes, including installation time. It was far too easy, and I can't see her ever playing it again. Unless your child is under the age of 5, I wouldn't recommend this game, at least not until it ends up in the Bargain Closeout Bin at your local retailer. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Nearly any fan of Dora the Explorer's TV show will enjoy this structured "adventure" in which players help the program's intrepid heroine achieve the noble goal of returning her library books on time. While not exactly suspenseful, the program is ideal for children ages 3 to 5 who are just learning how to use a computer. Over a soundtrack of catchy Latin music, the player helps Dora and her perky friends overcome a series of seven obstacles, and collects sticker prizes along the way. The program is unlikely to hold the attention of more computer-savvy kids as it is very predictable, structured, and slow paced. But its emphasis on teamwork, and opportunities to practice color, shape, and number recognition--not to mention learn a little Spanish--make it worthwhile.

Only a minute or so into the program most adults will find Dora's incessant cheerfulness a bit old as she shouts out a steady stream of encouragement. But for kids, this aspect may not be so hard to take. Dora's pack of friends from the TV show all appear in the program, along with the Fiesta Trio, a dancing frog-snail-and-bug band.

The seven games that make up the plot of the program emphasize basic skills and concepts. They include locating Dora's books by color, sorting through her backpack for objects, and solving simple pattern-recognition problems. There are three levels of difficulty--each varies according to how much Spanish is used and how advanced the number and pattern problems are. One drawback is that if a child gets stuck there is no way to ask for specific help or hints. A useful feature, however, is the ability to stop and start the program where the player left off, and save individual programs for up to three different players.

While kids used to more fast-paced programs may quickly get bored, young children--especially those who are already fans of the TV show--will have fun developing their mouse skills and putting their problem-solving abilities to the test. --Molly Masland ... Read more

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

Reviews (65)

Another awesome upgrade to the already great series!
I have seen and played many demos and have read tons of reviews on this product.

I have been a fan of this Junior Sports series since the very first original Backyard Baseball came out. I own 2 of the 3 baseball editions, both of the football versions, my brothers have both of the soccer editions, and we also have Backyard Basketball.

From what I've seen and read this is another great additon to any of your collections of these games. The gameplay is smooth, the graphics are stunning, there are EVEN MORE gamplay options than in BYB 2001, the MLB kids faces are very believable, the players ability to play is slightly exaggerated but hey, that's what makes it so fun.

Being a big fan and player of baseball I follow the majors like nothing else. For that reason I noticed the ratings (Running, Pitching, Fielding, and Hitting) on the players to be slightly off. But if that's the only problem, that's an extremely small sacrifice to make when buying this game.

This game is worth every penny you spend on it. I recommend this game for fans and non-fans of all ages.

The levels of difficulty are set very well for people that play it. I do wish though that they would add an extra "Major League" level of play for us older guys that are looking for some challenging opponents.

I haven't tried online play yet but I'm sure you would find some more challenging people to play against.

This series is getting better with every game and should soon become one of the top sports games on the market. I hope that soon they will expand their games and come out with Backyard Baseball Pennent Race Edition Expansion Pack that will include the new hot rookies in the majors. Who knows? Maybe it's not that far off from now.

In closing I want you to know that this game does not have the new backyard kid design. The new Backyard Hockey has new kids to chose from and absolutely stunning visual effects. I recommend that game also for the Backyard Series fans.

Oh yeah, one more thing, HAVE FUN!!!

Sincerely,
Ian Badeer
A True Backyard Series Fan

Baackyard basketball 2004
I think this game is really good. People say this is too easy but i am 11 and I play on hard mode and I lose sometimes It is deffinetly better then the first backyard basketball because the originial only had two pros and this has ten. This game has good pros and good pro selections but they could have had better people as well like Steve Francis, Baron Davis and Kobe Bryant. Some of the people in there have not very good attributes like Tim Duncan has no outside shot but in real life he is a good outside shooter and Pau Gasol has no outside shot but can make all of the three pointers he shoots. Making a shot is very easy from outside but inside shots are kinda difficult. This game has the same graphics and gameplay as Backyard Hockey which I like the gameplay but the graphics i don't like. I would reccomend this game for 5-12 year olds and if you want the ultimate team I would pick Tracy McGrady, Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan as starters and reserves Yao Ming and Paul Peirce. Other than the bad graphics and the choosing of the pros and pro's attributes this is a very fun and good game.

forced to do setups
From the makers of putt-putt,freddi fish,spy fox and pajama sam comes backyard sports.It's fun but you buy it on software,that's where it gets **** instead of *****.Humongous FORCES you to do their setups BEFORe you can play your game.

The Best Baseball Game Ever!
This game is great and a little challanging! The menus are very simple. There are 2 modes that you can play on. A single game mode and season play mode. In single game mode, if you want certain players on your team you have to get them quickly because your opponent can get them before you do. A cool part of single game mode is that you can play tee-ball and watch a demo! On season mode you pick your players first so you have all the players that you want. Each player has four ratings, Batting, Running, Pitching and Fielding. There are three game levels. (Excluding tee-ball mode) A way that makes the game challanging is that there is pluses and minus'. Pluses make them stronger in a rating and minus' make them lower in a rating.If you want to play season mode I reccomend you first play some single games and watch some demos. Also you should start at easy level and work your way up to medium then hard. Heres a tip. Never get Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds! They get tired to easily and get lots of minus'. A very fun game!

Great game and to me fun to play!
This Backyard Soccer 2004 has my favorite players here.Like Brandi Chastain,Tiffity Milbrett,and Cobi Jones.This is a fun game to play,but the hard level still a piece of cake.You can make your color of your team,but the promblem is you have to choose from some choices instead of naming your team.That's my kinda suggestion.I won the game a hundred times already,but I love it and I keep on playing it!I think this is a 4 star rating for one reason why 4 stars,Way too easy! ... Read more

Features

• Test your math skills as you fake out your opponents on the soccer field
• Test your knowledge in place values, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
• Practice math problems at your own pace
• Includes U.S. and metric measurement
• For ages 7 to 14

Amazon.com Review

With this playset, kids can actually drive Thomas the Tank Engine, toothis horn, switch tracks, link him to other trains, and engage in all manner ofUsefulness, the chief currency of the Island of Sodor. The Thomas-shaped plasticplayset straps easily over standard keyboards (not ergonomic ones or laptops). Ared throttle moves Thomas forward or backward along the track. A green leverswitches tracks to change direction. A yellow whistle noisily announces Thomas'sarrival and also helps him link and uncouple with other trains. Finally,Thomas's smiling face is a button that can be pushed to get hints and friendlypatter. These four simple controls make this an inspired CD-ROM that will suit awide range of ages. Toddlers will love simply throttling Thomas around thetracks, while older kids will enjoy games that encourage spatial skills,decision making, and problem solving.

The four main games are wonderful,involved exercises. They all involve Thomas being helpful: finding "ImportantSupplies"; locating the "Missing Mail Truck," then helping to sort its mail;rescuing stranded passengers in "All Aboard," then making sure they are properlyticketed and delivering them safely to their destinations; and rebuilding anavalanche-damaged track in "It's a Landslide!"

These games are somewhatcomplex: in the landslide game, kids must switch tracks, couple Thomas with theTroublesome Trucks, haul rocks up mountains, signal Harold the Helicopter tounload the rocks, then deliver the empty trucks to James for hauling away.Thomas's water supply must be watched and replenished during this strenuouswork. And after the rocks are in place, there's still work to do! Only afterkids go to another screen to collect flatbeds and track pieces from Cranky theCrane, then deliver those parts to the mountaintop, is the job done.Phew!

Also, if players abandon a game without completing it, they can't accessany of the four mini games (which are mazes and races), and Sir Topham Hatt willchide in his chipper manner: "There's still a lot of work to be done!" This isnot a CD-ROM for the lazy, and fortunately, the folks who made it didn't use anyshortcuts either. Older systems without a lot of storage space may have troubledigesting this graphics-heavy program, but for us the program chugged along likeThomas himself, and the action on the screen corresponded smoothly with whatevercontrol was being used on the playset. "Builds a work ethic" isn't one of thefeatures mentioned on the box, but this diligent program and playset could putyoungsters on the right track. (Ages 3 and older) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Good game
I read all the reviews on this Thomas Computer game and dispite the bad ones I still purchased it for my four year old son who is crazy over anything "Thomas the Train". It has never locked up on me and I had no troubles at all installing it on top on my keyboard. (although you do have to get it perfectly in the right spot which can be a little tricky) Once installed it doesn't shift or fall off the keyboard and the program works just fine. My son loves this game. It is by far a favorite of his and he has quite a few computer games in his growing collection. He reaches for it time after time. My 6 year old daughter plays with it and she seems to like it as well so it's not just for the little boys out there! The graphics are real cute and they love driving the trains, dropping the passengers off at the station and doing the different jobs involving the railroad. I would say this is a good game for any child between the ages of 3 and 7. In my opinion, any child under 3 years of age are to young for computer games anyway and any child older then seven will find this game to be to babyish for them. One downfall to this game that I had read in another review which is true....it is hard to exit the game. You have to complete the job in order to do so which is a bit of a pain and a little time consuming. Other then that I rate this game 5 stars because ANY toy that can keep my kids entertained for more then 30 minutes and that is played with again and again and again.... I feel was a good purchase and money well spent.

Great fun for our 4 y.o. boy (and his dad)!
Our son loves this game so much (he received it for his birthday two days ago), we can hardly get him to do anything else! Even adults will enjoy assisting the child "drive" Thomas and complete the chores given to Thomas by Sir Topham Hat. Your child will see the stations, the other engines, listen to Thomas speak to him (or her), and even see Thomas from above at certain points (e.g., entering a station). Most views are from "inside" Thomas, and I think it's a particularly nice touch to see Thomas' firebox burning. Warning: The gamepiece only fits on regular keyboards, not ergonomic ones (i.e., those split-looking keyboards). I recommend this product highly if your child is a Thomas fan. PS - it will install on Windows XP, which I understand has been a problem for some other Thomas games.

Extremely disappointing
We bought this for my five year old last year, and it was just a miserable experience from the beginning. The playset that straps onto the keyboard is not always cooperative, and once that issue is addressed, the software itself is difficult to follow for my son or for me! He became extremely frustrated after a few tries and it wound up being a very costly mistake. Avoid this one!

Every Thomas the Tank Engine Fan's Dream!
My sons are in love with Thomas. We have the wooden trains, the table, everything! But when we found this Railway Adventures Playset in bookstore for just ..., you can imagine how we felt when we got home and installed it on the pc!

I felt as though we'd hit the lottery or gotten over on the bookstore. This toy/pc game is so awesome. Your child will actually get to engineer Thomas all around the island of Sodor.

Even my husband and I have found each other dring Thomas. The picture/vdo quality is absolutely stunning, and having a real console to drive makes this game absolutely incredible. You also get to interact with many of the other Thomas characters.

This is a must by for Thomas fans or simply train lovers.

Latorial Faison, Poet & Author
...

Must have for thomas "FANATIC" kid
My 4 and half year old lives for Thomas and has for two years now. Nothing interest him more then Thomas and evey conversation leads back to Thomas or trains eventually. If you have a kid anything like mine then this is a must have!

There is nothing I can say negative about this toy. It introduces computer skills while allowing him to play with his favorate pal. I have been able to seg-way into other computer pre-school games with a more learning emphasis, by use of this fun toy. I like to play it myself.

The graphics are great. The instructions simple but the tasks are not. Your child will need help if he has no computer skills or isn't a good listner. But once he has done the task once, he be able to do it by himself again soon and with the log on screen, his adventure will be just a bit different each time.

Every time a child masters a tasks he is able to print out a certificate with his name on it.

Just great. Love it. The only problem I've had with my son is getting him off the game at bed time. There are tears and he says, "I miss Thomas." ... Read more

Features

• Winnie the Pooh Toddler brings children the fun of playing with Winnie The Pooh & friends
• Mickey Mouse Toddler is a great way to learn while laughing with Mickey, Donald and other classic characters
• Six different and exciting activities reinforce basic learning skills
• Games like Who Likes To? build observation skills, while matching, opposites and flashcard games teach while they entertain
• Fun singing games let children choose the correct endings while hearing fun music

Features

• Explore Kenai's fully-interactive world in this real-time, 3-D game
• Comical narration explains the transformation of Kenai into his rival the bear
• Set in a lush environment
• Game based upon Brother Bear's grand adventures
• Play Kenai and Koda as bears; transform into a wolf, a crow, or an eagle

Reviews (5)

Brother Bear an entertaining adaptation overall
Not having seen the movie, I can't comment on screen-to-PC authenticity, but KnowWonder's Brother Bear game is an entertaining romp through a variety of gorgeous, interactive environments (Aspen forest, Valley of Fire, Salmon Run and more) on Kenai's quest to become human again. The game is narrated by Rutt and Tuke, aka the SCTV McKenzie Brothers of moose (voiced by hosers Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, eh?), who explain the rough idea of Brother Bear: brothers Sitka, Denahi, and Kenai live in the Ice Age Pacific Northwest. When eldest brother Sitka is killed by a grizzly while protecting Kenai, Kenai tracks down the bear and kills it against the advice of the shaman. As punishment, he is transformed into a bear and must escape Denahi, who is now hunting him. Kenai befriends Koda, an orphaned grizzly cub, who helps him reach the place where the light touches the earth.

The game begins in the Apsen Forest in a training level, where Koda teaches Kenai the bear essentials: how to jump, climb, collect honeycomb to discover secret totems, and collect berries, salmon, and acorns to restore health. Interspersed between levels are arcade-style action games, such as racing to the top of the mountain, the Ice Run, and collecting the most salmon at the Salmon Run. These can be replayed to achieve a better score, or just to enjoy the action again.

Although there are no difficulty levels to choose from , the game increases in difficulty with each level. During each level Kenai must fight and escape Denahi. This is made difficult in the fact that once you enter the fights, there are no health power-ups, and if you die, you start right back out with as much or as little health as you had the first time. The saves are also automatic, and the game freezes up for a good 15-20 seconds every time it saves.

The claim that you can transform into an eagle, wolf or crow is deceiving: these are totems that you use in your quest, but you do not actually transform. The Eagle totem allows Kenai and Koda to fly to otherwise off-limits ledges and across barriers to collect bonus items (the Mystical Pinecone, which gives you an extra heart against the hunter) and to continue the game. The Wolf allows you to jump across super-wide chasms (you only use it once or twice), and the Crow allows you to see hidden objects or paths. There are also three totems that will aid you in your final fight against the Hunter: the Bear, the Sabertooth Tiger, and Golden Salmon. As a bonus, if you collect the six hidden totems, there is a hidden ending.

The 3D graphics are gorgeous: lush forest, snow-covered mountains, raging rapids and waterfalls, and volcanic craters. You can chase rabbits and butterflies for fun, fish for salmon in the river, and avoid grumpy chipmunks when collecting berries. The game did freeze up on my machine in a couple of spots (both in the Valley of Fire), but those were the only glitches I encountered. Brother Bear does require a 3D graphics card and a fair amount of memory to run smoothly (I ran it on an HP Pavillion with 256 MB RAM and an Nvidia TNT 64 MB graphics card).

Overall I feel that the game is too difficult for younger gamers (under six perhaps; the keyboard/mouse controls are rather tricky and very sensitive), but enjoyable for older kids.

Not for Toddlers
My 3yr old daughter loves the movie Brother Bear, so I bought the game. It is definitely geared more towards older children age 5 and up. Another drawback is the fact that you have to use the keyboard to maneuver the characters instead of the mouse. Obviously it is very difficult for a 3 year old to understand to push the space bar to jump, the contol button to move sideways, and the directional buttons to move, etc. Also, the game became stuck with 30 minutes of playing with her. I uninstalled the game and then reinstalled it and it got stuck again in the same place.

System Requirements don't match Software Platform
I purchased this one because it specifically said that it was supported by the Windows 2000 platform. It is NOT! When you select the Systems Requirements, it does not list Windows 2000 but I took the platform listing as valid.

Now, I have purchased software that will not work and had to watch my girls' faces when their daddy (a network engineer) could not make it work.

Love This Game!
This is a beautiful game. Graphics are super. The whole family can enjoy the Brother Bear game. Makes a terrific holiday gift.

Nice game for children
This is a nice fun game for children. You get to explore Kenai's world in 3-D. There is narrating to help you along understand the story. You get to have the adventures in brother bear,you play as Kenai and Koda as bears, but you can transform into a wolf, eagle, or a crow. also the conrols are easy to leanr, and the game is very colorful. Overall a very nice and colorful game for youngsters.

I hope you enjoy this game. it will leave you smiling. :)
have a nice day! :) ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Create a winter wonderland for Barbie lovers with Barbie Sparkling Ice Show, a creative extravaganza that enhances basic PC skills while entertaining young girls for hours.

Join Barbie and friends Christine and Teresa and visit five exciting venues: International City Park, Misty Mountain, Island Paradise, Rose Garden, and the fifth, mystery location, which is accessed only when the other four levels have been completed.

Put on impressive performances (each venue offers more challenge than the previous one): learn how to jump, do tricks, and speed skate. A level is completed when you have mastered a practice session and then put on a show. After the first level has been completed, the exhibition area will open, and once the other locations have all been visited, extra features--including decorations, music, costumes, and more--begin to appear for use in the exhibition show.

Installation is guided, and is quick and easy. Accompanying the CD-ROM is a multilingual user's manual in black and white that is comprehensive and very easy to follow. The program is designed for children ages 5 and older, but help will be needed to complete all tasks at the early end of the age range. --Susan Naylor, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Not just for little kids!
"Barbie Sparkling Ice Show" is a fabolous game and can really inspire creativity and imagination, and that's coming from someone whose 13 years old! This game allows you to pick routines, music, costumes, and fun stuff like decorations and ice color and put it all together to make fabolous routines for Barbie, Christie, and Teresa on the five stops of the Sparkling Ice Tour. But once you finish the tour, the fun doesn't end there- you can continue on skaiting cool exhibition shows using all of the details of previous shows.

To work the game, you start off by preparing for the first stop of the tour and practice a routine that you pick out of a few selections with the skater you have chosen. You can pick from three levels: easy, intermediate, or hard, and each one provides more challenges than the next. If you skate the routine well and do a good job, you will be able to do all the "good stuff"- choosing your music, costume, decorations, etc. for the tour. The game continues on like this for different tour stops such as Rose Garden and Island Paradise, with your goal to make it to the secret surprise location where you can even create your own routine.

I found this game to be a lot of fun and not at all boring. Granted, it may be a little bit too easy to get through all the tour stops, but the fun doesn't stop since you can create a user name and start all over again or continue doing skating exhibitions. It is a fabolous game for all figure-skating and Barbie fans, not to mention that it is so much fun! Anyone ages 5 and up will enjoy this wonderful game.

Pretty Disappointing
In the words of my 6 year old niece: "This is Really Boring (sigh)".

Does being able to choose the color of the ice and Barbie's outfit compensate for what is a fairly limited program with mediocre (at best) graphics? In the eyes of that young Barbie devotee, obviously not.

To make matters worse, the game's producers apparently decided to create a "multilingual" product by relying on icons without any text for most operations. This approach often makes it quite hard to determine what each does without the manual.

Can't you just discover the actions of different buttons you wonder? Well, the game designers often chose to not provide any feedback that something was happening that may take a while. No hourglass, no clock, no spinning skater cursor. So for those operations that take more than a few seconds (e.g. loading a new scene) the player ends up thinking their click did nothing and they try clicking something else with unpredictable results. Frustrating.

A final word about the graphics. Sure you can dress her and her friends in five different outfits, but shouldn't we expect something a little more than 640x480 resolution these days?

It didn't crash, but you should save your money. If you could skate Barbie into a wall it MIGHT have been worth it. After 45 minutes with this program, that is what BOTH of us wanted to do.

Bad skating technique
I didn't buy this game, becuase I can tell by the pictures that Barbie has very bad skating technique (see below). This game is not for kids who want to have fun while seeing a good skating program.

Pictures on Amazon
1) Box picture -- I can't tell whether or not Barbie is stroking or doing a bad spiral? Either her leg is too high if she is stroking, or her body and leg are not in the right position if she is doing a spiral.
2) Layback -- Although it's hard to see, it looks like Barbie might be spinning on her toe pick.
3) Split jump -- Barbie does not have enough skating muscle for the jump. She is also not kicking her boots up.
Pictures on vugames (makers of the game)
1) Stroking -- Barbie's body is crooked. She doesn't have her weight over her stroking leg, and her body is leaning to the side. I've never seen anyone stroke like this.

Great Game
My daughter, almost 7, loves this game. She got it a few weeks ago and still plays with it every day. We did have to upgrade our system, but the game hasn't crashed since and hasn't been slow. Despite what others have said this game has lots of levels and takes lots of practice to master the freestyle levels. (The skaters will do lots of different tricks once the user learns how to do them.) This game has even seemed to help my daughter's actual skating - she just went yesterday for the first time since receiving the game and had lots more confidence and moved more smoothly than she did the other times she went.

A complete waste
My daughter received this cd for Christmas. It is very slow loading lots of wait time for things to happen. When she finally chose the skater and where she should skate (only one choice worked), my daughter kept asking what she could do now. Most of the time we were watching Barbie skate beautifully. Not very interactive. I consider this a waste of space on my computer, a waste of time for us to use. I would recommend saving your money and get something worthwhile. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

If you haven't yet been charmed by the adventures of Max, then Maxand the Magician will surely charm you silly. It's a game with asurprisingly simple premise, and you can tell the creators put more thought intodelighting kids than they did into coming up with a complicated story line. Andthat's fine by us.

The plot is simple. Max, the dog with the precocious little boy's Englishaccent, is sent to deliver a package to Mervin the Magician by his Uncle Pong. However, when Max arrives at the castle, he discovers that Mervin has beentransformed into a toilet brush by the vindictive witch Hagabelle. It's your jobto find the pieces of the spell that are hidden around the castle--once puttogether, Mervin can turn back into his normal self.

Like most Max adventures, the immediate task is only a small part of the fununearthed in the program. As you move from room to room in the castle, clickingon various objects to find the spell pieces, you'll uncover some amazing things:cackling witches, a chest full of magic brooms, transforming walls, and aspell-casting machine. And pointing and clicking is made especially easy for kids. Forexample, when you move your cursor over a clickable object, the small Max iconturns into a hand; when the cursor is over an object on which you can cast aspell, a magic wand appears. The game also lends itself to repeat play--eachtime you play, the pieces to the spell are hidden in different places.

Once again, Tivola has created a great Max game for young kids. Though it movesslowly at times, it has an appropriate pace for kids of this age group, whoappreciate a simple task coupled with whimsy and a sense of discovery andaccomplishment. (Ages 3 to 7) --Ara Jane Olufson ... Read more

Features

• Visualize Good and Bad Trends - Review your child's behavioral and financial history over weeks, months, or even years. Show it graphical to your child to help reinforce the behaviors you as a parent wish to encourage.