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Software and Games : Software Categories : Children's Fun & Learning : Characters & Brands : Other Characters
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Once again, the BBC has produced a superlative software package for youngsters aged between three and six years old.Though this is a fairly large age gap to bridge, the content on Pingu: A Barrel of Fun achieves it effortlessly. For the younger end of the age group, there are shape-sorting, number- and letter-matching, sound- and colour-recognition puzzles to crack. For five- and six-year-olds, the "hard" rather than "easy" skill option will give plenty to amuse. For example, in the easy letter game, players must choose the initial letter of a given everyday object, whereas in the hard version, players must spell the whole word. (Hover over the letter and you get the name of the sound; once you've placed it, the voice-over tells you the name of the letter--an extremely sound educational approach.)
The sound game, a real highlight of the package, is an aural pelmonism, where players must match sounds to make the symbols disappear. In the harder version, the organ grinder plays a tune and players must match the sounds in the correct order. Though most sounds are everyday (telephone, cow, pig) there are some more exotic sounds (lion) that children may not recognise, but they can match them to the pictures shown.
For older players, there is a selection of five games to choose from, each with an easy, medium and hard skill option. In "Ice Flow", you must get Pingu across the water without wetting him so he can deliver birthday presents: a kind of basic Pingu Frogger! "Snow Maze" is reminiscent of a simple Pac-Man, but the added bonus is picking objects up along the way that you can build up into your own original picture at the end. "Fish Tennis" is bordering on the surreal--a kind of elementary tennis reminiscent of the original Atari game, but with Penguins not paddles and fish not balls! "Building Blocks" sets players a puzzle not unlike those in the Krypton Factor--matching shapes together to build up an overall object within a template. In the easy version, each shape is cut into three pieces; in the medium version it is four or five pieces and in the harder one, seven or eight. The only let-down to the game section is "Music Time", a recording synthesiser which allows you to play nursery rhyme tunes, sing along or record your own composition. Though the idea is great, the mouse dexterity required to make it work effectively is probably beyond the target age group, and the resulting sound quality on a home PC is poor.
That said, this is a minor blip in an otherwise fantastic package. It is easy to load, has great graphics that perfectly reproduce the TV programme, and while younger players may require supervision and help, they will still enjoy their favourite character, even if mastering the finer points of the package is beyond them. Whether your child is a fan of Pingu or not, there is plenty for him or her to get their teeth into. From early learning to elementary gaming skills, Pingu: A Barrel of Fun will definitely last the three years of the target age range and players will continue learning all the time. And, once your children has turned six, a simple and effective Uninstall option means your hard drive won't be clogged up forever. --Lucie Naylor
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Can We Fix It?. Of course we can, and with this BBC software package little builders will be better equipped than ever!. Featuring the chirpy Bob and his mechanical multitude of talented friends, this fun package is a mixture of educational encouragement and pure out-and-out fun.Once loaded, you are invited to move the cursor around Wendy's office to select your tasks: hover over the phone, and it rings with a plumbing job; go near the fax, and a job comes in for Roley. Keep moving around, and you will find enough jobs to keep little fingers and minds busy for hours.
In "Hedgehog Rescue", the aim is firstly to help Lofty the Crane build a tunnel to save the scared hedgehogs from crossing the road. Children must match pipe shapes to tunnel shapes, and construct the route. The next, more difficult game, involves Wendy herding the hedgehogs into the tunnel--easier than it sounds, since one particularly persistent hedgehog seems unwilling to go.
In "Travis' Race Day", choose between Scoop or Dizzy to a head-to-head around an obstacle-strewn track. Guide your challenger by mouse or arrow keys--again, not as easy as it sounds, and a great developmental aid for hand-to-eye co-ordination.
"Can We Build It?" involves knocking down an unsafe bridge, then using colour recognition to match the bricks to rebuild it. Roley needs a hand with unruly tarmac in "Bubble Trouble", when you must guide him over the bubbles to even out the road. And in "Scary Spud", you must move Spud around the screen to scare off the crows. But the crowning glory is "Wendy's Birthday", where guests first decorate her cake then join in the fun line dancing. Also included on each game is "Where's Pilchard?", a hide-and-seek game for the shy, blue cat.
Accompanied throughout by Neil Morrisey's narration and the superb music from the TV show, (also now a CD single), this package builds on many elementary educational skills to make little builders into fully fledged Bobs. And while it is not that quick to load (missing plug-ins are provided, but it may take some time) it is well worth the wait.
Testers of around two years old found this package fun and evocative of their favourite TV character, though they did require constant supervision and most of the games were beyond mastering. This is a superb educational aid and lots of fun. (Suitable for ages 2 to 6).--Lucie Naylor
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
At first acquaintance, the basic "gaming environment" wherein LEGO Creator's players build their virtual bikes, choppers, cranes and so on, and direct their dinky, cutesy, usually pre-built minifigures, seems a little bit odd and unsettling--even bleak. Bleak enough to confirm the prejudices of parents and others who would consider computerised LEGO a travesty of the hands-on, real-world ethos of the original construction game.However, after a while, the cleverness of this CD ROM comes to the fore. In the virtual LEGO Creator world you don't just build things and then take them apart; you can make them fly at the touch of a button, give them apposite or ludicrous sounds, change their colour with a single mouse-click, even blow them up (flamboyantly) using the special DESTRUCTA bricks.
You're then able to pilot your figures and vehicles through the very world you have created, guided by an integral LEGO Creator Wizard--who is a bit like a permanently untiring, mega-brainy parent. All in all then, a rather fine and intelligent toy, albeit not one for the very young, or very active, or very easily dismayed. -- Sean Thomas
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Avanquest Software
If your child is getting that Fimbling Feeling, try Fimbles Fimbling Fun, one of an excellent range of CD-ROMs and console games produced by the BBC. It includes lots of songs, stories and video clips from the popular TV programme. Let your child join the Fimbles and their friends for fun and enjoyment in a world of make believe.There are lots of learning situations, all designed with fun in mind. Objects must be found: a suitcase, a pebble, a feather, a shimmy shaker, and blue footprint, all of which lead to various activities, including a music game, a maze game, a collage, a suitcase game, stories, tickling games, songs and discovery sequence videos. All these wonderfully exciting activities will lead children to meet Florrie, Pebble, Ribble, Rockit, Roly Mo, and Baby Pom, and if any help is needed, Bessie is always on hand to tell children what everything on the screen does.
Also included are activities designed specifically for adults to play and do with children, so that the learning and fun can be developed after the CD-ROM has been switched off. These include printing out and colouring in, finding games, and more. All of the games can be played at different levels of skill and difficulty to cater for a range of abilities. The BBC has developed this CD-ROM in line with the national curriculum at the foundation stage, and recommends that it is suitable for children aged 2 years and above. Skills which can be practiced and developed include mouse control, listening, following directions, observation, cause and effect, and creativity.
Accompanying the package is a first-rate, colour instruction booklet which is extremely well set out and it should be read by parents or helpers before play is commenced. --Susan Naylor