Product Overview
Fans of Disney's film Toy Story 2 will revel at the opportunity to interact with the likes of Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and friends on their computer screen. The activities are a real treat, ranging from arcade style to turn-based electronic board game. Many activities are based on actual adventures from the movie so these situations can be re-enacted in a delightfully interactive way.
The 6 multi-level activities are as follows:
- Cone Chaos is reminiscent of Frogger, except players are trying to get their favorite toy characters across busy highway lanes. Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, and friends are hiding under traffic cones, and kids need to direct them to safety using the arrows on their keyboard. Watch out for fire engines that won't stop, and, on higher levels, gum that will no doubt get you into sticky situations!
- Arcade action fans will enjoy Toy Shelf Showdown which involves helping Buzz build a rocket ship while deftly avoiding menacing robots or stunning them with Buzz's lasers.
- Critter Corral is a board game that can be played against the computer or with a friend. The object of the game is to move your "critters" from your corral to the opponent's before they do (much like Chinese Checkers).
- In Luggage Lunacy, kids direct Buzz through a maze of luggage over the conveyor belt in order to find and free Woody who is trapped in a suitcase. Players must avoid traps laid by the Prospector along the way.
- Create-a-Comic-Book has children creating their own comic strip by selecting different backgrounds, characters, and props, as well as sound effects and dialogue bubbles with text. Stickers can be resized, flipped, and rotated.
- Players select Woody's Printing Press to print out stickers, a Wanted poster, birthday cards, and more.
Kid testers easily became immersed in this program, finding quite a bit to keep them busy. The printing activity was a little disappointing because of its lack of active involvement -- the projects are ready for print with no input from children required. The gameboard-style activity Critter Corral is especially fun -- on the first level, possible moves are highlighted for younger players, and level 3 is really quite challenging.
Level 3 for most activities is quite difficult and allows older kids ages 8-9 to be challenged by the game. Cone Chaos becomes quite hard to "beat" even on level 2. Preschoolers who are intimidated by arcade-style games would easily be frustrated by this program, but 6-9 year olds will likely have a great time.
Technically Speaking
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 133 processor, 16 Mb RAM, and 4X CD ROM. Mac users require a Power PC 132 MHz or faster, with 32 Mb RAM, System 8.1 or later, and at least 4X CD ROM. This title requires 50 Mb of free hard disk space.
Skills Covered
Strategy, planning ahead, arcade, creativity.
Educational Value
Though some strategy is required in the activities, there is not a whole lot of educational value in the program. Buy this title for its fun factor.
Entertainment Value
This title scores high in the entertainment category! The variety of activities with multiple levels will appeal to kids of all ages. The vivid 3D graphics and animation are engaging, and parents will enjoy the humor.
Design
The interface is easy to understand. All games/activities come with instructions -- and kids will need to listen to them! Arcade activities require use of the keyboard, and instructions/dialogue can be skipped with a tap of the spacebar.
Replayability
We expect good replay value. Fans and even children who haven't seen the movie should enjoy the activities.
Dollar Value
Suggested retail price is $39.99 Cdn.
Released: 2000
Reviewed: June 2000
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