Amazon.com Review

A typhoon has struck Jurassic Park, knocking out the fences that keepthe meat-eating dinosaurs away from their gentle herbivorous cousins. InJurassic Park III: Dino Defender, players must trap the runaway predatorsand restore power to the fences before the great reptiles destroy each othercompletely.

Intended for children 8 years and older, Dino Defender is an arcade gameof the obstacle-course variety. Players run, jump, climb, and swim their waythrough the park, looking for the circuit breakers that will power up thefences, while trying not to get eaten in the process. Along the way, helicoptersdrop down supplies critical to user survival: tranquilizers, dinosaur-trappingnets, flares, and even call boxes, which lure dinosaurs of a particularspecies.

The conceit behind Dino Defender is charming and has a wrinkle that makesit slightly different from that of similar games. While the player's mission isto save the dinosaurs, the monsters in Jurassic Park have no compunctions aboutdevouring their rescuers. One mistake, and the ungrateful beasts will tear aplayer apart. Even so, the gore content of the game is low, while the action isfast paced and exciting.

The look of this game is lush and appealing, with mazes that offer decentproblem-solving challenges without being overly complex. As a result, DinoDefender will please young action fans immensely. It offers nonstopopportunities to fall down cliffs and drown in rivers... not to mention gettingeaten by a hungry velociraptor. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Jurassic Park 3:Dino Defender
This game is the best i tested it it is fun!!

The best game on Earth
I think that Dino Defender is very fun. I play it all the time. But what I don't like about it is there is no way to get past level 5.Idon't think it is to hard.Some of my friends little brothers have seen me play it,some thought it was neat ,others thought it was scary because the dinosaurs look like they jump out at you.

Dino Defender
This game is horrible, I bought it for my son, he can't play it, I can't play it, his cousins can't play it. All we got was frustration and pretty bad graphics. Avoid this game at all costs,
Jurassic park Genesis is a 1000 times better

My 8 year old son loves this game!
We gave this to our 8 year old son for Christmas, because he loves Jurassic Park things. He has played it almost every day since. It is by far his favorite computer game. There's not a lot of educational value, but it's not scary or too violent, and it is just challenging enough for him without being too hard.

Dino-rrific!
I came upon this game quite by accident, it was on sale...in a department store. Being an adult and an avid Juassic Park fan I figured I had nothing to lose and maybe just maybe it would be fun. I put it in my computer and my excitment at seeing the Jurassic logo come on was quickly daunted when I heard the singers singing "Dino Defender!" I think remember saying something like "Oh Gawd!" But I decided to give it a shot any way and was soon in the "training center" learning the moves for the actual game. I thought it was nice how it showed you to move yourself in different situations. Good training for you to move quickly later on in the game when you have to. The game has lots of action and excitement. I was really suprised and pleased. You have to go around the island and search out all the power boxes and turn them on, find your supplies, all the while trying not to be lunch for a T-Rex, raptors, Spinosarus etc... Some of the situations take LOTS of skill and plotting. Often times I was running scared trying to leap, climb up, get down open my arsenol and throw it at the dinosaur before I got eaten. I am suprised that kids can move up to the different levels as I said before some situations take lots of skill and plotting. I was sad to see when I reached the last level and saved the Park. It was a lot of fun and I had looked forward to playing it each evening after work. I highly recommend this game for everyone. OH! don't forget to Save often while playing this one! ... Read more

Features

• Limited-edition bundle offers hours of fun for the whole family
• Includes Operation Krabby Patty and Employee of the Month
• Comes with a playable demo of Battle for Bikini Bottom
• Authentic voices and music from the incredibly popular cartoon
• Action/adventure for kids ages 6 to 12

Reviews (1)

SpongeBob Squarepants Review
This game is a 2 in 1 deal. I think this game is good for ages from 5-16. The only problem is each game finishes pretty fast but it's still good. On a 1 to 10 I give it an 8. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Join the irrepressibly curious and adventurous Madeline as she busies about on a rainy day, travels around the world, attends school, and stages a puppet show. Play with her friends, her Miss Clavel, and her ever-faithful dog, Genevieve. This engaging, four CD-ROM set features colorful graphics, learning activities, videos from the Madeline TV series, and more. The collection remains true to Ludwig Bemelmans's classic tales about a clever little girl with a very big taste for adventure.

The deluxe collection includes Madeline Rainy Day Activities, Madeline European Adventures, Madeline Thinking Games, along with Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show. Dress up Madeline, her friends, and Genevieve in the enchanting Madeline Rainy Day Activities. Print postcards, masks, door signs, and stickers, and enjoy 40 activities that let you carry the fun away from the computer.

Adventure through France, Switzerland, Italy, and Turkey with Madeline in Madeline European Adventures. Learn about cultures as you help her solve the mystery of the missing magic lamp. Six activities build skills in geography and creativity, as well as add more than 100 French and Spanish vocabulary words.

Madeline Thinking Games takes you to school with Madeline. Explore her schoolhouse while working through fun and challenging learning activities. Build problem-solving skills as you solve more than 30 puzzles and 11 activities with multiple difficulty levels. Successfully complete these activities, and awards and certificates can be printed for you and your friends. Or, take a break from school to watch one of the six included videos from the Madeline TV series.

Stage a puppet show with Madeline to help her save her neighbor's house. Journey with her through Paris to find items needed for the big event. Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show delights as well as builds critical vocabulary, thinking, and creativity skills. Christopher Plummer, the famed British actor who played Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, narrates. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great problem solving!
My almost 5 and almost 3 year old girls love these games! We rented the Europeon Adventures from the library, and decided to try this out, since that game is included. What a bargain for so many games! If your kids like Madeline, they will enjoy this!

Madeline software is delightful
My daughter has an earlier Madeline computer program, and it has been the best we've bought. Unlike Reader Rabbit, which I think can be frustrating for small children because it takes so long to "win" the game by collecting items, the Madeline program builds smaller, more easily attainable arenas for success. Plus, the program grows with the child. We bought ours when she was not quite three; at five years old, she can still enjoy it using the higher level activities. ... Read more

Features

• Features 8 great music games, 16 jigsaw puzzles, 9 twisted music riddles
• Animated encyclopedia of musical instruments
• The tale of the Magic Flute set to Mozart's classic music

Amazon.com Review

Belle, Jasmine, and Ariel are your guides in Disney Princess Magical Dress-Up, a game that lets girls ages 5 and older play fashion designer with a vast range of princess dresses, hairstyles, and accessories. Players can design a model for the clothes on offer, choosing from a range of skin tones, body shapes, and hairstyles to create their inner princess. Alternately, they can create a new body and simply paste on a scanned photo of themselves.

Having constructed their model, girls can do a number of things--dress her up, search for more clothing and accessories in a trio of magical worlds, or paste finished ensembles into a sticker book. The last application allows you to literally insert yourself into animated scenery of Disney movies, creating pictures of yourself hobnobbing with characters from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.. Bright and relentlessly cheerful, the game urges girls to build pretty gown after pretty gown, complimenting their choices at every turn.

Burdened with an oversensitive installer and a balky interface, Disney Princess Magical Dress-Up never quite manages to overcome its flaws. Variations on this style of game abound, after all, hovering in an electronic netherworld between old-fashioned paper doll kits and more sophisticated makeover programs available to older girls. This particular version, though, has few things going for it. While it does allow players to design somewhat realistic princess models, its only real appeal lies in its three familiar characters and the recognizable aesthetic of its artwork. And even in this its scope is sadly limited, with no clothes on offer from the formidable collection of female villains in the Disney canon. Everything is very serious and very pretty, and girls wanting to build zany costumes--or even a reasonably varied wardrobe--may want to look elsewhere. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

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

Features

• Play as the 6 Toa heroes and battle the forces of evil
• Find the Mask of Light to become the mighty 7th Toa
• Summon blasts of elemental energy to defeat enemies
• Explore the island of Matu Nui in 6 stunning environments
• Master a unique blend of puzzle solving and action adventure

Features

• Children gain: Confidence, Creativity, and Inspiration

Amazon.com Product Description

Join the Rescue Heroes team to save the planet! Burning meteorites from space slam into Earth, setting off worldwide disasters. Blast water at raging brushfires, snowboard down hair-raising avalanche-covered slopes, race a water rescue craft through deep floodwaters, and more. Rescuing the world has never been so much fun. Features include four action-packed missions around the globe, seven exciting activities with three levels of gameplay, and game controls that put you in command. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

mediocre software for avid Rescue Heroes fans only
Meteors have hit the planet, resulting in a series of widely scattered emergencies that require the Rescue Heroes to intervene -- and they need your help!!

The graphics are good, the intro is exciting .... but after that the game is totally mediocre. Four activities have three levels of difficulty, but they are quite tedious no matter what level you play. (1) Move around a water maze to rescue people in a flooded movie studio, and shoot a life preserver over a moving line of floating objects. (2) Navigate a maze on a rock face as you rescue stranded climbers while avoiding vicious eagles and snakes. (3) Aim a hose at brush fires so you can find and rescue animals on an African preserve. (4) Snowboard down a ski slope without hitting the shrubbery so you can dig people out from under an avalanche.

The hype is here, but the games are very boring. Your child has little flexibility or independence when performing tasks, and those tasks probably use only 2% of your child's brain power. For example, in order to dig people out of the avalanche, you click on the snow cave over and over, it doesn't matter where, until the person trapped within tells you how great you are -- and every time it's the same person in the snow cave. Each game is rather mindless in this way. There is little reasoning required and no skills acquired.

This is lame software that has neither educational value nor excitement. When there are so many worthwhile children's software titles out there, don't waste your money or your child's time on this lazy stuff. It may be worthwhile for the truly avid Rescue Heroes fan, but even that is doubtful. This was our first Rescue Heroes title. It is also our last.

Lava Landslide
I gave this game to my son as an early birthday present. He's almost four and loves the Rescue Heroes. The reviews I read were mixed so I decided to buy it anyway. I'm really glad I did. Sure it's challenging, but it's a good excuse for the parents to get involved. First I did the hard parts for him, to show him what needed to be done. Then I guided him through them and finally he ended up doing it all by himself. He was so proud when he accomplished the hard tasks that he couldn't do at first!

Unlike most computer games this one requires the use of the arrow keys instead of the mouse. Well, it's always nice to learn new skills.
I can't wait to give my son the two other RH games I baught for his birthday. I have no doubt he'll love them too.

Inaginext Pirate Raider
I gave it a 1 because they did not have a 0, to give. I bought this game for my son and I try to install it and it tells me that it has encountered an error. I go to the web site and it tells me what to do with that error, but after I do what it told me it does the same error thing again. My son and I both got so frustrated and finally gave up. I am returning it to the place where I purchased it for a full refund. Good luck for those of you that also bought this Horrible Game.

Frustrating game for my almost 5 yr. old
I agree with other reviews that the mouse clicking is very difficult. It's difficult to maneuver the men around. My son tried for a few minutes, became so frustrated, I finished the one mission, but couldn't get him to do any more. Would recommend the I Spy software - ages 6-10, but he loves it! Don't have to know how to read.

Yeah Pirate Raider!
My 7-year-old LOVES this game. He'd play from sun up to sun down if I let him. I hear him cheering and clapping in the other room and he's having so much fun!
I'm VERY anti-violence, so when he got this game I was concerned. I was pleased to discover that although the ships sometimes fire on each other, no people are ever involved. This makes it so much more abstract and less about killing. When you capture forts, you fire on canons only and never see people. When you capture other ships, your knife is used only to chop up fruit that's thrown at you by skeletons. Once you capture their gold, you're on your way to fulfill another mission.
Frankly, this game is so much fun I have to admit to playing it myself! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Barbie is finally a woman of action. Taking up international espionagein Secret Agent Barbie, she travels the world in pursuit of justice. Athief has stolen valuable clothing from a friend of hers, a fashion designer whois just setting up for a big show.

In order to bring the thieves to justice, Barbie has a full team of helpers anda complement of gadgetry. To get past a guard who won't let her through a door,she uses her compact to blow foundation in his face. To investigate areas tootiny for her to access, she has a robotic spy puppy. Her Pinkvision goggles canseek out the combinations to otherwise secured doors. Finally, Barbie has twogymnastic skills: dive rolls that carry her past guarded areas, and jumps to getover obstacles and laser alarms.

By virtue of its emphasis on gizmos, this game makes itself a distant relativeof pop-culture heroes like James Bond or the Mission Impossible teams.However, Secret Agent Barbie lacks the defining characteristic of thismilieu: violence. Barbie has a stealth mode for sneaking around game scenery, anadventure mode for calmer moments, and an action mode for running and jumping.(Each of these modes comes with its own costume options.) What Barbie doesn'thave is a fight mode. Whether this is a good or bad thing may be entirely amatter of parental and player opinion.

Regardless of your position on mayhem, Secret Agent Barbie has a fewdefinite weaknesses. Gameplay is really just a process of moving from oneanimated sequence to the next--and the quality of these sometimes lengthy moviesis only so-so. The game is highly inflexible, pursuing a straight path to thestolen fashions. As a result, its replay factor is almost zero. As for themystery-solving element, players don't find clues so much as stumble overthem.

That said, Secret Agent Barbie does move the widely beloved doll into adistinctly macho career path, allowing girls to tag along with their heroine ona globetrotting adventure. (Ages 6 and older) --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (27)

"Secret Agent Barbie is so really cool and also colourful!"
I loved Secret Agent Barbie. Usually I think of Barbie doll as something for younger girls because some older girls seem to think of Barbie as lame or dumb or something, but not always because I do like her. Anyway, this game was so cool! Barbie is a secret agent, and the game is so fun from the start! It starts out on a plane, where Barbie goes in training to learn all these different moves like rolling and jumping. Barbie, being Barbie, uses cool gizmos and gadgets that look a lot like makeup. For example, to sneak past guards without them catching her or not letting her by, she takes out some powder that's like foundation or blush and blows it in the person's face to where he can't see for a moment but cough. She records private conversations using a lipstick I think it is, and she wears these pink sunglasses type things that enable her to see secret codes and combinations. She travels to exotic places like Paris, France and somewhere in Japan, also New York; she always goes by plane and lands by parachute! She chooses different clothes and outfits to wear and there are different modes to play-action is one. She has a robotic puppy, too. She also has a friend who talks to her a lot by a certain spy gagdet thing, who just happens to be in a wheelchair! It's funny, all the guard dudes look and sound the same. Sometimes Barbie can get a little annoying by saying the same things over and over, and the stuff can be frustrating by being challenging. Barbie's mission includes finding some thief who's making a invisible suit which Barbie gets to put on! The theif steals special dye from some plant and clothes I think from a designer friend of Barbie's, (who I think is Theresea). Anyhow, this game is soooo really cool and a must-buy for girls this product would interest! I haven't played it in a while though.

Wonderful!
I was a thirteen year old when I recieved this. I had wanted it because I'm into girls saving the world, spies, secret agents, you know, the NANCY DREW sort of thing.

Barbie can jump from rooftop to rooftop, record secret conversations with a hidden device, find messages with a pair of sunglasses, and track a sneaky person using what looks like plain old perfume.

Barbie can blow powder in a guard's face when trying to sneak through a door she is not allowed in. You get a few seconds to put away the powder and walk past him.

She can also sneak and tumble when she is in STEALTH MODE. In ACTION MODE you can run and jump, in ADVENTURE MODE you can talk to people and walk around. In all modes you can use your gadgets and do puzzles.

You can go to Tokyo, Rio, Egypt, France, and New York in a private jet. Aboard the jet is a training room where you can practice all your 007 stunts.

This was a nice game, except it was a bit hard. You never died, or lost a life, you just got to do it again. The spotlights, lasers, and the cameras are pretty hard to dodge, so a parent should accompany their daughter while playing this game.

CIAO!!!

Good Game
Secret Agent Barbie is a fun game. I got it when I sprained my ankle a few years ago. It's strongest point would probably be that there is something in it for everyone.
But I also think that that can be it's weak point. I like the action mode, but you can only be in that for certain parts of the game. Barbie's pace isn't very fast in the other modes.
Also, this game can be un-realistic. Like Barbie will say, 'I think that's the suspect!', but will take the time to change her outfit before she goes after him.
This games a good one anyway. I'd reccomend it to any girl who likes Barbie. But another weak point is that you don't get to do much sleuthing on your own. It's all set out for you. If you want a real challenge, I reccomend the Nancy Drew games, which are really good.
Anyhow, this game is really nice. I'd reccomend it 9 and under. If you like either action, adventure, or fashion, you'd probably like this game!

a great game for a while
My grandparents bought this game to for me, my brothers and sisters,and my cousins. At first it was great! It was challenging. I got to leap across roofs, break codes, desguise myself, and do lots of other things. There were quite a few cool gadgets like a lipstick recorder, robot spy puppy (my favorite) and a perfume tracker. You have to find out who stole barbie's friend's fashion clothes. There are dozens of different outfits that you can choose from at different times. First you can do training so you know how to do spy moves, but you don't have to. It's easy to use. After I completed the mission once though, it wasn't as great. I don't play it much any more. If I owned it though, I don't think I would play it at all! I think this should be for ages seven and up, because of the hardness of the puzzles. Hope this review is helpful!

Just OK
My 6-yr-old daughter received this game as a gift and we found it to be fairly disappointing. It keeps jamming up, the graphics aren't great, and it's annoying that Barbie has to change her outfit whenever she wants to switch between "stealth" mode, for example, and "action" mode. My daughter hardly ever plays this game and prefers Barbie Explorer for its faster and more exciting pace. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

GREAT GAME!
Everyone talks about how bad it was, WELL I will tell you it is better than most current games TODAY!!! As far as errors, it works PERFECTLY for me! The game is fun, and does not need much knowledge to play! Super graphics during the time the game was made ( 1980's -90's). It was released on cd-rom about 1994.

All I have to say is: WONDERFUL, maybe not the sims, but just as GOOD!!!

Greatest Game Ever
It works great! Here's a helpful hint: pick the right season. I never did and I feel I payed a price for it. Also, learn a foreign language! It could help you out at Soda Rock.

It just doesn't work
I had the same problem that [others have had]. I have not tried any of the newer versions but I am assuming with those, the restarting problem would be fixed.

My favorite Game in Elementary School!
This was my favorite game in elementary school! I have the Version 2 which is a whole lot better! I recommend the version, similar game, alot more functions. Oregon Trail will ALWAYS be my favorite!

CAUTION! NEED DOS 5.0 or higher!
Never got to play the game. After installing it on my Windows 95 machine, it kept giving me a message it needs to be run in DOS, and when it goes to DOS it says it needs a mouse and re-starts windows. MOST Windows 95 machines come with a DOS version 4 so be careful! If you have DOS 5.0 or higher, you may have better luck. It's a shame! I loved this game in Middle School! ... Read more

Features

• PC musical game based on popular musical masterpiece and designed for children and adults of all ages.

Amazon.com Product Description

Renegade spy Max Masters has unleashed an army of minions that are carrying out his devious schemes to get revenge on the Spy Masters team! Now it's up to you to put a halt to his villainous deeds. Create your own secret identity by choosing your "cover" from head to toe, then earn the state-of-the-art spy gear you'll need to accomplish your missions. But don't forget to claim your gear; you'll need the power to defeat the villains. The more missions you solve, the more spy gear you earn. Then take all the spy gear you've earned into each new Spy Masters title.

Navigate your way through 3-D worlds with underwater caves, an eerie pirate ship, a submerged secret lab, and beyond. Play more games in the Spy Masters series and unlock more of the 3-D worlds. Also play online! Start a team of your own or join one--use the spy gear you've collected to snag your rival team's flag. Get to work saving the day while using your knowledge of science, logic, math, and language arts. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Mia's grandmother, Mimi, has suddenly become very sick. With help, Mia must find the ingredients for Grandma's medicine. But, just as the quest begins, Mia is robbed of her "sparklies" and must find more to pay for the remedy to Grandma's illness. Many surprises, discoveries, and characters await, as Mia finds her way through a very special house. But, watch out for Romaine and his cousins; they are always in the mood to cause trouble when least expected.

The Mia adventure series integrates fun learning activities into a story-game of exploration. In each adventure, kids lead Mia throughout her house and garden to find articles needed to complete a mission. Along the way, they encounter challenging activities to test their abilities. Successful completion of each task results in a reward, bringing the companions one step closer to their goal. Kids learn early-reading skills, spelling, vocabulary, word recognition, phonics, and rhymes as they play. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very Poor Game - frustrates children and is slow paced
I've seen a lot of children's fun and educational games and this is one of the WORST I've seen especially given the awards it has received. The graphics are great, but the game is EXTREMELY slow paced. It takes too long to get from one activity to another meaning that most of the hours required to play are spent just wandering around Mia's house not learning or accomplishing anything. The character Mia is geared towards 5-year-olds, but most of the games are geared towards 9-year-olds. The font used is hard for young kids to read. (The "g" and "a" for example are not like hand printed letters.) Some of the activities are not explained well, the child often looses even when only chance is involved, and the reward system is so strong that the child is left feeling inadequate rather than enlightened. For example, one activity requires full understanding of syntax of written words. When the child forms word by word the sentence "The cat like to hit balls", he is told "that is not a sentence" and all the work disappears. The child is not corrected or given a second chance to change "like" to "likes".
If you are looking for good adventure games for 3-6 year olds, try the "Putt-Putt" series; for learning games try "Davidson's Learning Center Series" and the "Reader Rabbit" series."

An impressive, polished and educational experience - buy it!
This new (2001) game has exceptionally good graphics and animation. Scattered throughout the adventure are educational activities which were:
(1) extraordinarily good (I remember being taught to read with exercises similar to these, but using flash cards)
(2) varied in difficulty -- some were too difficult even on level 1 for even a bright 5 year old (e.g. read question sentence, then read and choose correct *form* of answer for the question). However, the well written CD insert gives adults helpful advice on when and how to assist children -- I found that re-assuring. With appropriate adult assistance, even the hardest activities became fun learning experiences.
(3) covered an impressive breadth of reading skills (on level 1: starting short words, matching short words with images, matching questions with answer forms, choosing words - structured in a column-ordered matrix - to create sentences) and even problem solving involving lever-fulcrum, etc.

The game is fun, and I found it best to supervise sometimes and let my child just explore for a while at other times. The "skateboard" accelerator is a great fun feature for the child and can be used to keep the action from dragging. The story's theme - getting medicine for sick Granma -- is a very positive. The initial mugging in the dark by the evil rat character is less so -- but perhaps the story needs that edge (my child was careful to avoid the rat thereafter -- perhaps a lesson in itself!). A selection of interesting characters are encountered enroute. Occasional surprises prevent the action from slowing down.

The script does not talk down to the child -- too many books and games treat childen condescendingly, using "baby talk" and slang.

This is by far the best childs game I have come across in the 3-5 year old range (it is for 5-9 year olds) so far. Is it perfect? Well no (see below) but it is an order of magnitude better than other games I have encountered.

It is hard to find substantial faults with this, but here are a couple of issues I found:
(1) It always installs only on the C: drive -- I hate that, my C:\ partition is always near full because of this sort of half-baked installer. I expected the installer to fail because of lack of space, however it succeeded -- I can only assume the game has a fairly small hard disk requirement (footprint) -- despite the advertised need for 40Mb.
(2) Mia apparently walked through a slipper at one point. It looked odd, but did not effect the game.

Works great on Windows XP Professional. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Sassy and smart, this charming CD-ROM series combines early-childhood education and humorous storytelling with a distinctly European flavor--something along the lines of Doctor Doolittle meets Monty Python meets Beatrix Potter. Our hero, Oscar, is a small, curious British boy who tours the world in a hot-air balloon that enables him to switch among the four seasons with the click of a mouse. His companion, Carmela, is a treasure chest who often goes missing. In this escapade, Oscar crash-lands his balloon on the thatched hut of a timid animal researcher named Balthasar Pumpernickel, who lives on a farm amid fields of talking pigs, cows, sheep, and chickens. Carmela is there, too, stocked with a dozen delightful animal-theme games to play. Children are free to go straight to the games chest or explore the farmyard--and talk to the animals--in depth, across all four seasons of the year.

Along with this CD-ROM's elevated level of illustration, there's a fearlessness about content that is uncommon in America these days. The presence of dung on a farm, for example, is clearly acknowledged in the program with a special matching game (whose icon is a toilet bowl) that requires kids to "click and drag each animal to its droppings." As well, adults aren't the all-knowing educational founts here; Professor Balthasar, afraid of the animals, hides all day in his hut. "Outside lurk a thousand dangers!" he sniffs. Parents and kids alike will appreciate the goofy inanity of a farm-facts guessing game that poses such true-or-false questions as "Cows love to eat frogs," and "Sheep sleep on poles." Most powerful of all, however, are the stirring scenes of the animals: from sunny days in the fields to deliciously snowbound days inside the barn. (Ages 4 to 8) --Jean Lenihan ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A little difficult for our 4 year old
The game has lovely graphics, and creative-educational games. My son enjoys matching the poop with the correct farm animal. However, it is a little difficult for him to understand what the directions are or what he's supposed to be doing in the game. It's a bit "word heavy" for a boy who has an auditory processing disorder, but he does enjoy clicking on the animals to see if they'll poop. In fact, anything to do with poop will entertain him. It's really better geared towards older kids and younger children who can handle higher level learning. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Based on the I Spy book series by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick, I Spy Junior: Puppet Playhouse features puppets, games, and riddles to promote listening and problem-solving skills. An interactive story about a princess and a sneaky dragon strengthens rhyming and other word skills, a puppet-making workshop teaches kids to follow directions, and a magical animated tree helps promote early reading skills. Seven play areas in all offer a variety of fun learning activities. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Boring...
This was so heavily hyped, I had to have it for my five-year old twin girls. What a bore. They're either too old for it, or there is the outside chance that Scholastic really didn't put a lot of effort into this. It would bore a three-year old. Compare to Spooky Mansion or Treasure Island - can't compare with these gems. I'm 50 and play the latter two.

The best children's software I've seen yet
I have never taken the time to review a product, but I love this CD so much I felt I had to. It is the best software that I have bought for my kids so far. The colors, the characters and the graphics are terrific and even manage to hold mom's attention!! Never mind, that my daughter really loves it too. Another thing that was good about it is that it's teaching my daughter basic mouse skills and there are quite a few different activities to play so kids won't get bored easily. I'll be looking for more software from this company as I find that most of the stuff out there for kids is a big waste of money.

Not perfect, but very good
My 2 1/2 year old son has really taken to this. It's a really great idea and it's well executed. You have four puppet shows and three games. The graphics are very well done and very realistic, with no cartoon-like figures. Everything is a scan of a real object. The games are building your own puppet, building your own still image from a puppet show, and sorting. Sorting really is what early math is all about. I'm glad they have it.

The puppet shows are where you will spend most of your time. Each show is composed of four or five scenes which have a dozen or so clickable objects. A riddle appears at the bottom and you have to find the three or four objects that are in the riddle. When you click on a riddle object, it does something and advances the story. Each scene has two riddles and when you have gone through all the scenes, your done with that show. A kid might eventually learn the locations of all the objects in a particular show, but with four shows, it will take a while.

There is only one real problem I have with it, based on several sessions of lap play with my son. Because there are about a dozen objects in each scene, but you only need 3 or 4 for the riddle, the rest of the objects don't do anything when you click on them. I think every object should do something (wiggle, glow or zoom, at the very least) when it gets clicked, not just the riddle objects. This has led to my sons newest vocabulary word: "doesntwork". If not this, then at least the riddle objects from the first of the pair of riddles for a particular scene should still be active for the second of the pair. So, when you click on a riddle object from the first riddle, it should still do something, if not it's original action, when you are finding the objects from the second riddle. As it is now, my son tries to click on the objects which were just active in the previous riddle, but they "doesntwork".

But, overall, I'm pleased with it. There is no violent action and it is pretty exploratory and creative, as advertised.

A Decent Game for Kids Under 5
This is a good choice for children under 5. I was impressed that the graphics and game play were appealing, and utilized the latest features from Macromedia.

I get SO tired of childrens games that look and play as though they were made for a Windows 3x machine, circa 1994. This game will not disapoint. ... Read more