Amazon.com Product Description

In Virtual Springfield, the metropolis throbs from the diligent employees at the nuclear plant to the all-night wonders of the Kwik-E-Mart and the eager students of Springfield Elementary. Explore every nook and cranny with over 50 locations. Listen to original cast members such as Phil Hartman, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Pamela Hayden, and more. In addition, view all-new Itchy and Scratchy cartoons at Krustylu Studios, attend the premier of the latest McBain movie at the Aztec theatre, and even channel-surf through Homer's favorite TV shows. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Great looking but thin on gameplay
On the postive side, it looks just like the TV show, and it contains all the Simpsons characters and Springfield locations that you'd expect to see. For a while, it's fun to poke around and see what happens when you click on this door or that drawer. Unfortunately, there's just not enough to do in terms of gameplay. There doesn't seem to be much object of the game other than to collect hidden "trading cards". If you're a Simpsons fan, you'll enjoy it for a while, but it's ultimately kind of a disappointment.

I love it!
Speaking as a big simpson fan I really like this game!It's not as much a game as it is an interactive envirernment ripped from the show!The 3d when walking on the street is okay but the 2d areas look great!Plus the characters are voiced by the voice acters from the show.And there are many many events that fans will reconize from the show!Oh and it contains two new itchy and scratchy shorts!I could keep going on and on with the details on this but I don't want to waste your time.So I will finish by saying that if you are a simpsons fan get it!

Take a ride through Springfield
VS allows you to take a humorous tour around Springfield,occasionally finding keys that will allow you to unlock certain places.Fun and funny to look at now and then.

Not much to do.
All you really do in this game is look around Springfield and run into the occasional character. I finished the entire thing in less than 2 hours. Plus it is not very vivid or deep. You can only visit 2 classrooms in the Springfield elementary school, there is only 1 angle of Moes bar etc. All you really do is LOOK at these locatons that we are already familiar with and have the tiniest little bit of interaction with them. Plus the geography of Springfield in this game is not the same as the TV show. Which is also inconsistant in it's placing of many "sets". Moes Bar has been in many different places for example. But, then again, in the HOMER BECOMES a garbageman episode, the town was moved to another site. Perhaps this is where it got all shuffled up.

There are a few little (and I mean little) games included. One of the main games is to simply find hidden baseball cards. A ploy to trick into clicking on the screen and revealing slight animation.

In total there is just under 25 minutes worth of animation here and it is cool that the original cast provided the voices. But unless you are a Die Hard Simpsons fan then I would leave this game be. Definitely only for younger kids.

Great Simpsons game!!!!!!!
This game is fun especially for the Simpsons fans. I like how you can walk around springfield and explore everything. I love going to the school. The Simpsons house is the best but you'll get a kick out of the Flanders house. In every place there are a few mini games that are fun for a while. If you like the Simpsons GET THIS GAME NOW!!!! ... Read more

Product Description

Play in a World All Your Own! Ages 3- 7]. It's Time to Get Cooking in Your Own Disney Kitchen. Mix up some pancakes, make a yummy sandwich, or pop that chicken in the oven¿it can all happen in a kitchen of your very own! 30 kid friendly recipes from the experts at FamilyFun Magazine! 30 clips from classic Disney animated films! ... Read more

Features

• Play in a World All Your Own! [Ages 3 - 7]
• It's Time to Get Cooking in Your Own Disney Kitchen
• Mix up some pancakes, make a yummy sandwich, or pop that chicken in the oven
• 30 kid friendly recipes from the experts at FamilyFun Magazine!
• 30 clips from classic Disney animated films! [Windows 95/98]

Amazon.com Product Description

After a storm breaks the radio tower on Birdwell Island, Clifford the Big Red Dog and his master, Emily Elizabeth, decide to make music with friends Charley, Cleo, and T-Bone. Kids join them in the fun by making instruments, singing songs, sorting shells, dancing with the dogs, and more. The program's 19 age-appropriate activities challenge children (ages 4 to 6) to develop their memory, logic, and early-math skills. An automatic help tool allows for self-guided play, while all activities progress according to children's skill level. Once they've assembled all the instruments, kids get to create their own music with Clifford and his very big band. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

for the most resistant reader
My 4.5 yr old son would much rather play nintendo than try to learn phonics, thanks to the influence of two older sibs. He received this game yesterday and already has spent countless hours on it playing the games and inadvertantly learning phonics. This game uses letter groupings as well as phonics, which is the method my other kids used with great success. This game definately requires parent participation in the early stages, but it's been fun watching him become more and more independant in his reading skills even though he is not aware of it. Only complaint is that the reward system is limited, so beware if your child is reward-oriented.

Clifford the Big Red Dog: Phonics
I bought this for my 3 year old daughter for Christmas this year. It was the first computer learning game she ever tried and it has been great in teaching her the basic mechanics for moving the cursor around the computer screen and using a mouse. But now, just 3 months later, I find that she is bored with the game. There are only a handful of games at the carnival to play. She seems more interested in decorating the float with the prizes she's won from these games instead.

some reviews below refer to "Thinking Adventures"
Note: Some of the reviews here (the 3-star one entitled "very easily bored with it" for instance) refer to a different product--"Clifford's Thinking Adventures".

The Phonics title is a completely different game, released in July 2003. If the review says at the end "refers to an ALTERNATE VERSION" check the link--might be a review for the other game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Buzz Lightyear and friends turn Andy's bedroom into a fun and interactive classroom for first graders. Disney's active-learning games and activities promote creative thinking and problem-solving skills, while building self-confidence and teaching more than 40 developmental skills.

Perfect for kids ages 5 to 7, Learning 1st Grade will expand your child's learning galaxy. Kids rocket to an adventurous, age-appropriate learning environment of exploration, discovery, and creativity. A two CD-ROM set, Learning 1st Grade is packed with detailed graphics, exciting transitional sequences, and updated educational games designed to support first grade fundamentals, along with a stellar set of print activities featuring Buzz, Andy, and the gang. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Slick but a bit buggy--and not that much fun
Nicely done and a good bit of variety, but we found it buggy in places (wrong answers, mostly). It's also quite hard for a first-grader: from the second level on up it's got tough multiplication and and three-digit subtraction. More to the point, the six-year-old proclaimed it boring, and I have to agree.

Not too bad
My six year old got this game last year and loved it. It's a lot of fun, but only marginally educational. I think the Jumpstart series is much better. He does have fun with it though, and it does help reinforce skills such as math and geography. It doesn't help much in the language arts area. ... Read more

Features

• Fun, interactive underwater adventure based on Shark Tale movie
• Actual characters, locations, and activities from the movie
• Play as Oscar or one of his friends; 6 fun and engaging activities
• Completed of activities rewarded with printable certificates, posters, and more
• Music from today's popular artists; 5 difficulty levels to suit kids of all ages

Amazon.com Review

Blue's Play Time contains two separate, previously released Blue's Clues games: Blue's Art Time Activities and Blue's Treasure Hunt. This bundle entertains and teaches preschoolers and kindergartners with the sweet nature and delightful complexity we've come to expect from Blue.

About Blue's Art Time Activities

Incredibly easy to navigate and perfect for independent exploration, Blue's Art Time Activities is appropriate for kids of all skill levels. By helping Blue and friends participate in The Really Big Art Show, players learn basic art fundamentals such as color mixing, design, and layout. Along the way kids meet up with a cast of colorful characters including Chalk Girl and Marky Marker, Color Drops, Blue's new friend Periwinkle, and Al Luminum, the Mayor of Recycle Town--and, of course, Steve and Blue.

Chalk Girl lives in a geometrically challenged Chalk World, where children can manipulate shapes with rotation tools, click-and-drag them to complete murals, and store their creations in an art portfolio. Chalk creations magically transform into lively animations as kids complete their unique artwork. Once their masterpieces are created, players can tell the world about The Really Big Art Show by creating a stylish invitation at the craft table. Here kids help Marky Marker decorate an invitation using virtual paint, glitter, gems, and feathers while adding borders and learning layout and composition.

Playing the multilevel playground color game is an excellent way for children to learn about primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Here they'll mix and match colors along a hopscotch path, while taking turns seeing who makes it to the finish line first. Wonderfully animated Color Drops teach kids how to make colors such as purple, orange, green, and brown, and they can earn up to 10 ribbons for their efforts.

Once kids complete all the activities, Steve asks them to choose one of their favorite projects for The Really Big Art Show; they can also select one of the ribbons to place on their prized artwork.

About Blue's Treasure Hunt

As Steve explains how to play "Blue's Treasure Hunt" during the opening sequence of this game, he widens his eyes and states: "That's a lot!" There is a lot to this two CD-ROM game, where Steve and Blue are on a treasure hunt.

Treasure Bug has hidden three treasure chests in Blue's house, the park, and the school. Once these chests are unlocked, they will reveal keys that will unlock the door to the Land of Great Discovery. But, in order to unlock the chests, players must first find scrolls, read the hints on the scrolls, and deliver them to the right person, plus find three Blue's Clues per chest. And of course, those all-important blue paw prints only reveal themselves when players have done a bit of nosing around and helping out. As kids click screen edges, doors, and pathways to explore, they may discover that Green Kitten needs leaves to complete the school's bulletin board. Then they must remember that tree they saw back at the park with the leaves drifting to the ground. This program inspires connectivity on an elemental level: Steve and Blue assume the player already has a clue.

All of the activities have to do with helping someone or learning more about another character, making this the most avarice-free treasure hunt we've ever been on. Kids help unscramble paintings in the "Kitchen Art Museum," help Shovel and Pail illustrate letters to their friends, help replace the numbers that ran away from the Hickory Dickory Dock clock, and help out in countless other ways.

Finally, when kids make it to the Land of Great Discovery (and we guarantee this will take a while), they get to indulge themselves by creating stickers and paintings to decorate the landscape with, and in making their own treasure hunt computer game, a simple activity that's actually teaching very complex problem-solving and sequencing skills. There are eleven activities here and so many other problems to solve, clues to find, and scrolls to decipher, that every step through Blue's world is an activity of some sort. This game sounds ridiculously complex when distilled down to a description, but it works delightfully. Perhaps it's the "use your mind to take a step at a time" philosophy of Blue's Clues at work. (Ages 3 to 6) --Tina Velgos and Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (3)

This is a fun one!
I'd recommend this one for you Blues Clues fans! My 4 1/2 year old really likes this game! (It surpasses the Art one in our house by a long shot!

one flaw
Our kids are two. We do the mouse, but they tell us what to do, or we consult. They really love the Treasure Hunt game, but it's LONG. And you can't save it and come back to it, so every time we play we have to start at the beginning. By the time we get to the second disc, they've had enough Blue. I'm sure by the time they're three, they'll be able to get to the end, but a way to save the game would be nice.

High quality children's software
I was VERY impressed by both titles in the Play Time collection, especially Blue's Treasure Hunt. There are countless clickable surprises to discover as you, Steve and Blue range through the game world. (My 3 year-old was utterly delighted to spend half an hour clicking some blocks to stack them up, then clicking a toy car to knock them down.)

One of the things I most appreciated about this and other Blue's games was the control and gameplay were designed to be maximally child friendly. The feedback level is effective and appropriate for little attention spans (e.g. if you misclick while trying to match a shape, a little buzz sounds and you're allowed to try again... no long sound or video tracks to wait through).

Overall, a fantastic deal on two very high quality software titles. ... Read more

Features

• Enjoy the fun of freeform painting, or color in one of the many coloring pages
• Follow step-by-step instructions to draw animals, plants, robots and more
• The full-featured Print Shop offer you hundreds of project templates for everything from greeting cards to personal stationary
• Multimedia tools for creating music shows -- kids will make the screen come to life
• Mia's always around to offer tips or add a joke here & there

Amazon.com Review

Explore the world of Shrek the ogre in this activity-centered program,which lets players solve mazes, fill in crossword puzzles, and put together acomputerized version of an old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle. Shrek: Game LandActivity Center has seven entertainment options for young gamers, from asliding tile activity to a memory game played with a bird and xylophone.

The activities in Shrek: Game Land satisfy two separate age groups, andmight work best in a home with several young children, all working at differentgrade levels. Kids in preschool and kindergarten will enjoy image-oriented gameslike Sliding Tiles or Picture Mixer. They will also like Melody Match, amemorization exercise where players imitate the tunes whistled by a cheerfulbird. School-aged users, on the other hand, may prefer to stretch their readingskills with a crossword puzzle or word search. Then there's Splat!, an arcadegame that will please all users as they smash insects on Shrek's dinner tablewhile avoiding the slugs he is saving for dessert.

Each of the activities in this game is simple to master and, once learned, doesnot vary in the slightest. This brings the replayability of Shrek: GameLand down considerably. What's more, the game choices are clearly divided in scope: older children will find the picture games far too simple,while prereaders will be frustrated by the word challenges. The mix is an oddone and--when combined with the repetitive nature of the activitiesthemselves--makes the game an optimal choice only for hard-core Shreklovers. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (3)

FUN GAME!
This is a fun game that even my 4 year old plays! The bug squishing is her favorite! [Lots of laughs.] Cool game for everyone in the family!

I Love the Bugs!!
I am 32 years young and I play this way more than my 5 year old daughter. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I
think they could have put in at least one more excellent game like "SPLAT" the bug game that I just cannot stop playing. What a challenge!!!! It is driving me crazy. Don't get me wrong the other games are good, just not as good as splat. Anyway, bottomline, if you loved the movie as much as we did, then this is a must have. P.S.-download the full version not the shortcut
that they recommend for most computers, it will be well worth the space!!!!

Shrek
My 7 year old grandson is enthralled with the game. It gives many hours of enjoyment. He has numerous games-just like everyone else- in his collection, but this one is the favorite now. Of course, we have seen the movie, rented the movie, and just purchased the movie, and so this is a continuation of his fascination with Shrek. Buy it for your children...they will love it! ... Read more

Product Description

Join 10 of your favorite Care Bears™on a rainbow-filled Care-a-lot Jamboree.

Features:

• Play 8 exciting games and learn about caring and sharing from these adorable furry friends. Learn to match, solve puzzles and have tons of fun in the Care Bears' star-speckled cloud wonderland!
• Bubble Trouble- Funshine Bear needs your help! Multicolored bubbles are floating in the sky and they need to be popped. Clear all of the bubbles to win the game.
• Catch a Little Love - Hearts are dropping from the clouds! You get to help Love-a-lot Bear and Tenderheart bear catch a little love in their basket.
• Star Swing Challenge- Bedtime Bear is sending sweet dreams to everyone! Help him fill the sky with happy thoughts by swinging his Star buddies through the air.
• Care-a-lot Wishes- Wish Bear wants to send good wishes to all of her friends! Guide her and her Star Buddy to send happy feelings down the Good Wish path.
• Lucky Treasure Chest- Good Luck Bear has found a treasure trove of good fortune! Help him line up 3 happy feeling icons to collect them in his treasure chest.
• Gift Toss- Everyone loves to receive presents and Share Bear is in the mood for giving! Collect the presents for the big birthday party and toss gifts to each friend !
• Find a Friend- Help Friend Bear find her friends in pairs! Open the castle windows to reveal a Care Bear pair.
• Cheer up Grumpy Bear- Grumpy Bear needs cheering up! Help Cheer Bear slide the puzzle pieces into the empty spaces to reach Grumpy Bear and give him some cheer.

Reviews (1)

Not what it's cracked up to be.
At first I thought this would be neat for my 3 1/2-year old daughter, but I was disappointed.Some items are very hard and past her abilities at this time (the bubble game).Others are right up her alley (the matching game).The various games advance levels as you complete a level, but only 4 levels exist in each game, and there's nowhere to go after that.She was quickly bored, and the games she was not ready for brought out her frustration. ... Read more

Features

• From a trusted leader in early childhood education
• Customized learning environment with individualized feedback and support
• Automatically adjusts to appropriate skill levels
• Teaches 30+ skills including pre-reading, early math, shapes, and more
• Refined learning style based on over 30 years of research

Reviews (1)

Buyer Be Very Wary
The trusted leader in children's learning really blew it with this product. I bought SS Baby deluxe, SS Preschool and SS Toddler for my 2 and 4 year olds. My little girl was SO excited to play these games but Uh-oh. The small print says several of the disks DON'T WORK ON WINDOWS 2000 and they were developed for XP before the program was released so it is shaky on XP machines too. The bottom line - we can't run most of the CD's - some will install but not play. Some won't give the sound, some won't install. Very disappointing. Also Encore (who produces product) says on their web that they don't do refunds - you have to go back to the original store. Also they don't have an 800 toll-free number so you have to pay for support calls. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED FROM SESAME STREET. I WILL BE VERY WARY OF ALL THEIR PRODUCTS NOW ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

There's no place like home... even when playing with the Rugrats in the Land of Odd. Tommy and the gang appear in their very own graphical board game based on The Wizard of Oz. Play with Kimi as The Girl from Kansas, Chuckie as The Scaredy-Cat Lion, Tommy as The Scarecrow, and Phil and Lil as The Tin Twins. The first to find The Whizzer of Odd--Grandpa Lou--wins the game, but beware... many obstacles stand in the way. There's The Munchin Tollbooth Keeper, played by Dil, and The Wicked Witch of the West, played by Angelica, of course. Fortunately, Susie plays The Good Witch, and she'll provide all the help you need. Journey to Munchin Land, Fields of Folly, Mystery Forest, Stinky Swamp, and Marigold City. Each land comes complete with a logic puzzle, picture puzzle, twitch-action challenge, and a great grab challenge. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

What a great CD!
Rugrats Munchiin Land rules! I love the Rugrats episode No Place Like Home which is the Rugrats' way of telling the story The Wizard of OZ. Susie is sick in the hospital. While her tonsils get removed, she dreams a story like The Wizard of OZ. That's an episode summary. Here's a game summary. The kids are at the park. Anjelica starts spinning them really fast. Then, in her spinning the force pulls her on too. Tommy asks,"Anjelica, if your'e not pushing us, who is?" Suddenly the merry-go-round flies up in the sky and falls in the land of Odd.... This is the perfect fun for anyone.

Cute for rugarts and oz fans
this game is closer to the movie than the the book. so basicaly this game is a virtual board game and it makes you go thru 4 lands munchin land,corn filled,the growed and the furrest looking for4 pices of a entry ticket to get in to merigold city once you get all these pieces you can go into merrigold city and see the wizzer of odd how will get you home but your jurneys not over yet you gotta find the wichs bromm stick to get home ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

While the plot behind Bear's Sense of Adventure features the magical, folksy characters associated with a Jim Henson project, this translation to software is bumpy at best. Bear himself is visually fantastic, interacting with the cartoon house, his fur alive on the screen. However, the introductions are difficult to skip--it requires hitting the escape key multiple times to get into the game area--making it likely that kids will grow bored with this game after multiple uses.

The layout of the game is confusing, too. Bear spends a lot of time talking about the objects you can click on, causing them to do only a cursory dance across the screen. When you click on an object to decorate the house, it's logical to want to place it on a wall, but that didn't happen in our use. Instead, we wound up heading into other rooms and clicking on things like potholders by mistake.

This frustration makes the game seem disjointed and prone to long periods of song and dance--or even just lecturing--in a game that should allow kids much more direct interaction. Bear fans will love seeing him talk directly to them as they click items throughout the house, but others might only see it simply as a great TV episode placed on the digital screen. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Boring!
From other reviews, it seems as if you either love this game or hate it. We're in the 'hate it' category. The characters talk SO MUCH - it takes forever to get to the games. Some areas have very little instruction and our 4 year old has no idea what he is supposed to do, so he just ends up clicking anything and listening to more TALKING. He either ends up frustrated and walking away or playing the only game he can figure out over and over and over. I gave it 2 stars because there is one game our son likes to play that has taught him a little bit of mouse control. If we hadn't received it as a gift (and need to keep it around in case the gift-giver ever wants to see it), I'd be checking in to the satisfaction guarantee. This game is terrible. There are so many great software titles out there for this age group (the Reader Rabbits, and Blue's Clues ABCs for example), I wouldn't waste my $ on this one.

Great for kids they just love it..
My girls 7 & 2 1/2 just love this, they have a ball playing it and the opening song and video is just like on the show....

Pretty good, but not great game
I was a little disappointed with this game. My 3 year old played a couple of times & got bored with it. It didn't seem to have as much that grabbed her interest as other Bear games did. She will still play it occassionally, but it doesn't hold her interest as other games have.

Too Slow
My 3 yo loves the Bear, so I thought this would be a great software game for him. However, I was mistaken. The game takes way to long to get into, with songs that you must wait through to get to the playing. It also won't let you click through until the songs or talking are over. It's extremely boring at times and more like a video for the computer than a game. It does come with a satisfaction guarantee, which I'm looking into - I'm that disappointed.

Excellent software. Multiple activities and levels
My 2.5 year old and I love this software. Bear has so many levels and activities that it is truly the only one (thus far) that my husband and I don't get bored with ourselves. Bear and his friends are extremely interactive, leaving a young child with the impression that these characters really do come alive right in your home!

With so many games, exploratory activities, and pop-ups there is always something new. We have had this software for nearly 2 months now and still find something new in it from time to time.

Pip n' pops matching game is PERFECT for teaching the youngest users about mouse usage and point and click.

We especially liked that elements from the program such as "Oh hello you smell like..." and Luna and the goodbye sequence are featured here. Toddlers do love that repetition!

I highly recommend this software to anyone who has a child who loves Bear in the Big Blue House. In fact, it is such fun software with a wide variety of activities that I think even children who never watch the show would enjoy the characters just on their own merit in the software. ... Read more

Product Description

Enjoy a fun-filled day as you play eight inviting games that will challenge you for hours. Kids will enjoy activities such as Pen Pal Word Search, Pachinko Balloon Race, Penguin Plunge and more! Carnival fun that only Hello Kitty could dream up. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Could be better, but certainly not a bad price
Considering a lot of Hello Kitty products are cheap and poorly made, I had no high expectations of this.But of course my girls love H.K.There are 8 activities: making smoothies (fun but under pressure of a fast timer) , a pinball type game (no skill involved), launching fireworks (slow and boring also no skill), dolphin tricks (better timer and fun), 'Twilight Teaser'(a game where you try to match things but they change around as you attempt to do so...frustrating or fun, you decide), Penguin launching (requires knowledge of physics, I kid you not!), Ferris Wheel memory (I have to give credit here: the first memory game that is actually fun), and a Word Search (fun if your child likes large word searches with words as long as 10 letters).What annoyed me most is some of the games seemed aimed at a 2-3 yr old whereas others were challenging for my 5 1/2 yr old.So if you have several children who want to share the same disk and you are just looking for a new, inexpensive game, this might be worth the 6 bucks for some cheap, cute entertainment.However, we also spent $20 on the My Little Pony game which both my 3 and 5 yr old like much more.

Excellent, fast service!
Retailer shipped this order very quickly!It was better than I had expected. ... Read more

Features

• Explore 15 interactive learning games from number computation to geometry -- 10 different possible skill levels
• Get to know each of the ClueFinders with challenging personal quests that reflect their personalities
• Progress reports track your skills and offer motivation
• Over 150,000 math problems to be solved
• Ages 9 and up