3dGameMan …to the point news and reviews !

Little Red Riding Hood is a classic fairy tale. Unfortunately, there’s nothing classic about the CD-ROM version of it.
Packard Bell Interactive Little Red Riding Hood, which is based on Troll Associates’ book of the same name, doesn’t do justice to the original fairy tale. The narration is b-o-r-i-n-g. In fact, you could do better than that by sitting your 3 to9 year-old child on your lap and reading the story book out loud!
From the main menu, you can select four different options. The first option, “Play”, reads the story out loud, and after the page is finished, kids can find hidden animations by clicking the mouse. Kids can follow along with most of the written text since corresponding words are highlighted as they are spoken. It was interesting that the narration continued even though the text had ended several sentences ago. Would this confuse or frustrate a young reader? (continue reading…)

LEGO Island 2: The Brickster’s Revenge is sweet! Kids ages 6 and up can enter a lush, interactive 3D world loaded with zany characters, mini-games and a mystical adventure good for days of interactive game-play.
Superbly animated, kids navigate the skateboard-riding pizza guy hero (you know, “the dude with the food”), through a wild, island-hopping romp! This sequel to the hugely popular LEGO Island is the best 3D interactive PC game that LEGO has dished up yet! (continue reading…)

I’ll admit it. I’ve never seen the movie, “The Land before Time”. Six-year-old Saddler had seen the movie while Timmy (also 6) hadn’t. In no time at all, it was obvious that both kids found this CD-ROM exciting.

Nine challenging activities, aimed at kid’s ages 4 through 8 years, provide kids with hours of fun while helping them build problem-solving and memory skills. Younger kids may need some parental guidance in some of the activities. (continue reading…)

Kid Pix Deluxe 3 is unbeatable when it comes to creativity software for kids and grown-ups (who are kids at heart)! This imaginative CD-ROM wins The Review Zone’s Best of 2001 in kids’ software, hands down! Without picking up a crayon or a brush, kids can dabble in crazy effects, hilarious sounds, innovative art tools, and fun-filled animation to create the best multimedia art in town!

Kids can spend hours playing with Kid Pix Deluxe 3, and they’ll be wowed at the endless creative possibilities. Your child doesn’t have to have mega artistic talent to enjoy this wacky and innovative CD-ROM. All you need is a little imagination, a computer with ample memory and a CD-ROM drive… don’t forget the all-important Kid Pix Deluxe 3 CD-ROM! (continue reading…)

Planes, trains and automobiles–the stuff that wows kids young and old.’ Houghton Mifflin Inter active’s Inventor Labs: Transportation takes kids behind the scenes and lets them participate in an educational hands-on exploration of what the workshops of the great transportation inventors may have resembled. Kids “meet” Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the first powered airplane; Gottlieb Daimler, inventor of the modern automobile; and George Stephenson, inventor of the first practical locomotive, and get a chance to step back in time to get a different perspective of what it was like to be an inventor in the mid-to late 1800s and early 1900s. (continue reading…)

Don’t get too worried, it’s strictly interactive! The “GeoCycle” is a piece of cake to operate… with your mouse.

For students learning about US geography, this software is THE way to experience the United States without setting foot outside the classroom! Teachers can put the textbooks down and fire up classroom computers as their class gets a “bird’s eye view” and “fly through” the United States like never before!

A wonderful way for students to learn their states, this colorful CD-ROM has high-quality photography and graphics to get kids warmed up to challenging geography game play! In fact, you even get the sensation that you’re up in the air and flying! Be sure to have a barf bag handy!

Two thumb’s up to Ed Venture Software’s development team for this wonderful geography title! We’re including this CD-ROM in The Review Zone’s Best of 2001 software winners! (continue reading…)

Although this software may not “prepare” your child for kindergarten, it will give your kid plenty of fun-filled learning activities to help develop important early-learning skills.

This new version is vastly different than the older Davidson 2 CD-ROM set by the same name. It’s less expensive and packs a powerful punch!

You’ll find 20 activities which can help children develop skills in early math, early reading, safety, manners, time concepts, charting, sorting, measuring, listening, music and creativity. (continue reading…)

It’s hard to find many edutainment software titles that are age-appropriate for 9 to 12 year-olds! Enter Clue Finders Search & Solve Adventures, a terrific mystery for kids in this hard to find age range. Playing this software helps kids build problem-solving and critical thinking skills while having fun searching for clues to solve a super mystery.

First, kids meet the awesome Clue Finders in their own clubhouse as they spy a flashing light that seems to be in Morse code. Don’t ask me what the Clue Finders are doing in a clubhouse in the middle of the night but these super-sleuth kids take on an investigation in the “dead of night” of an abandoned amusement park that’s sure to be a spine-chilling adventure. (continue reading…)