Children are presented with a mission to help Nemo train for the Super Swim Challenge, set up by his father. Children need to participate in five mini-challenges in order to collect special prizes, such as conch shells and sand dollars, that will earn them the chance to guide Nemo in the swim challenges. Each activity features five levels with gradually increasing levels of difficulty. Although they require some commitment, the encouraging feedback and super gameplay make the whole process delightfully addictive.

Two of the activities are memory games, each of which is hosted by Dory, the forgetful fish! She needs help repeating the patterns of shapes formed by a school of fish and finding matching pictures under the rocks in a classic game of concentration. Children guide Nemo as he rides on Crush the Turtle, his surfer dude buddy, along the East Australian Current heading toward Sydney. Players must use their mouse to move the surfers around obstacles in this somewhat challenging game. A shell game is hosted by Anchor. Little Blenny hides under one of three seashells and players must follow the shells as Anchor shuffles them. Our favorite game is "Feeding Frenzy" in which kids help Nemo shoot kelp balls at Bruce, who is trying hard to succeed on his new "fish-free" diet. The background music is delightfully suspenseful. A freeform music activity is also offered. Testers were confused until they realized that, unlike the other activities, "Tribal Music" doesn't have a gaming goal, except to make music!

There are five Super Swim Challenges to play before Nemo earns the title of "Super Swimmer", and each of these challenges can only be opened up by earning five of the same type of prize. The challenges play like obstacle courses, and kids attempt to move Nemo through each course against a timer. The goal is to collect all of the sweet little singing scallops before time runs out, but there are plenty of obstacles (like Bubble Walls that slow Nemo down) along the way. None of our testers made it through the challenges on their first attempts, but were thrilled to keep trying. The courses are difficult but fun, and ultimately doable. The game targets children ages 4 and up, but we feel children younger than 5 or 6 will find the challenges too great.

This CD-ROM is charming—it's filled with clever humor, engaging graphics, and satisfying rewards. The concept of "earning" video clips from the movie is a motivating one, at least until the movie comes to video/DVD! Even so, gameplay itself is rewarding, and we expect better than average replay value from the game.

Technically Speaking
Minimum system requirements are Windows 98/Me/XP, Pentium II 266 MHz (Pentium III 400 MHz recommended), 64 MB RAM, video card with at least 8 MB RAM, 8X CD-ROM, and 160 MB hard drive space. Mac users require a G3 or G4 266 MHz or faster iMac, iBook, PowerBook, Power Macintosh, OS X version 10.2 or later, 128 MB RAM, 8X CD-ROM, 8 MB VRAM, and 160 MB of hard drive space.

Skills Covered
Memory, motor skills, prediction.

Educational Value
This game is designed mainly for fun, although players do need to draw on memory and prediction skills in order to master the games.

Entertainment Value
This program is rich with humor and character. Children will enjoy "interacting" with Nemo and his friends as they participate in fun, goal-oriented challenges. Rewards are plenty and satisfying, and the concept of earning video clips from the movie is appealing.

Design
For the most part, the interface of the game is intuitive. Although the music activity was initially confusing for our testers, the rest of the activities were understandable. Each activity includes a help icon, and there are six "slots" for saving games in progress.

Replayability
This game promises plenty of replay value with its multiple challenges, rewards, and appealing activities.

Dollar Value
This CD-ROM carries a suggested retail price of $19.99 US.