The Oregon Trail 5th Edition takes you along with a family as they travel 2000 miles along the legendary Oregon Trail!

Amazon.com Review 

A decidedly low-tech era in U.S. history goes electronic in Oregon Trail 5th Edition, a game for children ages nine and older that pits players against all the hazards a wagon-train voyage can dish out. Following Captain Jed Freedman and a trio of young pioneers out West, this program teaches history, map reading, geography, and a variety of other skills. Players must keep their wits sharp if they want to keep their party healthy and well-fed all the way across the country.

Oregon Trail 5th Edition offers a good all-around workout in reading skills and problem solving. Using limited funds, players must equip their wagons, balancing the need to survive on the trail with the necessity for moving quickly. Shortages will inevitably crop up along the way, and members of the wagon train can die of thirst, fever, snakebite, or many other perils... if you don't have the right equipment on hand to deal with the emergency. Even a well-equipped party can come to grief, though. Swamped wagons can lose critical supplies, and though there are people sprinkled along the trip who might provide help or trade goods, happening on the right trade is by no means assured.

Except for being a bit slow-paced, Oregon Trail 5th Edition has few flaws. The people aboard the wagon trains come from a variety of cultures. Though the game glosses over the ugliest aspects of this historical period, it does not skirt them entirely. Players who over-hunt the resources of a particular native tribe are likely to hear about it. The game has a variety of features that flesh out the travel experience, like a trip diary and animated campfire tales--one of them about the Donner party--that effectively break up the pace of play.

For children interested in a multifaceted educational challenge, Oregon Trail makes a good choice, capturing the difficulties and dangers of the long voyages that settlers made so long ago. (Ages 9 and older) --Alyx Dellamonica

Amazon.com Product Description 

Explore the West, live the adventure, and survive the trail! Kids will build real-life decision-making and problem-solving skills as they choose their wagon party and supplies, read maps, plan their route, and guide their team through the wilderness. Can they survive the dangers of the long journey, raging rivers, buffalo stampedes, sickness, and starvation? The trail explodes with adventure as you face the rugged challenges and experience real-life events.

Plus, The Oregon Trail 5th Edition introduces players to the Montgomery kids and trail guide Captain Jed, who are heading West from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, to meet Pa Montgomery. The Montgomery's story is brought to life for players through six exciting movies, Cassie's heartfelt journal entries, and Jed's captivating campfire tales.

Travel to a remarkable new world and treat your brain to an outlandishly fun and challenging adventure. Diabolical Bloats have seized Zoombini Isle, and it will take a clever mind to help the Zoombinis navigate their way to safety. Standing between you and your destination are twelve perilous puzzles, with four levels of difficulty each. But beware, this is no ordinary challenge. Zoombinis' captivating gameplay features math without numbers. Solving Zoombinis puzzles uses the process of mathematical thinking. This process includes organizing information, reasoning with evidence, and testing systematically. Dive into the exciting and wacky world of the Zoombinis and develop information-age logic skills used in writing computer programs, organizing spreadsheet data, and searching for information on computer networks.

Amazon.com Review 

"Not too long ago, Zoombinis enjoyed the good life. Though they all looked slightly different--different eyes, noses, hair, feet--such differences meant nothing to the Zoombinis. And so they lived happily on Zoombini Isle, making small, useful products, which were prized the world over." So begins an unsuspectingly addictive CD-ROM, featuring uncommonly fun reasoning games that require serious problem solving and math-thinking work. Yet the perils that face this cheerful society are not as fearsome as the amount of time you'll potentially spend on this pursuit. Beware the chubby, chattering Zoombinis if you don't want to get hooked to your computer for at least 90 minutes a session!

Adored by educators and parents alike, Zoombinis Logical Journey challenges children to employ such basic fundamentals of mathematical thinking as organizing information, reasoning of evidence, finding and making patterns, and systematic testing of hypotheses. The journey follows four puzzle-filled trails, each exploring related mathematical ideas. The fundamental data and variables for all this work are the variations in the Zoombinis' features. Their "feet," for example, can be shoes, skates, whirligigs, or coiled springs (the sound effects for these items are particularly great), while their "eyes" may be heavily lidded, enhanced by eyeglasses, blocked by dark shades, or limited to just a single eyeball. Sorting and arranging these variables in order to solve puzzles requires concentrated effort from the players, and the game rewards them well with inventive scenarios that evolve in fabulously curious ways as skills are gained. This may not sound like much, but when Arno the Pizza-Eating Tree Troll, who has been yammering for the perfectly topped pizza his entire lifetime, suddenly demands a perfectly topped ice cream sundae, too, it is a staggering, giddy surprise.

The product is full of so many little joys, it's hard to demand improvements. Still, it'd be a great thing if version 2 would feature something other than the monotonous, ping-ping-ping soundtrack that's featured here. But that's minor. In the end, the creators' promise that this CD-ROM will "encourage kids to develop a lifetime habit of associating fun with learning" is dead-on. (Ages 9 and older) --Jean Lenihan

Amazon.com Product Description 

Go on an epic adventure of math and logic. Embark on a dangerous quest to a new Zoombini homeland and learn critical logic and mathematical thinking skills. Trek across treacherous terrain strewn with perilous mind-bending puzzles. Learn important life skills such as deductive reasoning, pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, and more, while leading the Zoombinis to freedom. This entertaining adventure is a journey into the math of the information age. Develop the cognitive mathematical thinking skills used in writing computer programs, organizing spreadsheet data, and searching for information on computer networks.

Children will take afascinating ride to Wordville Station!



A step toward fostering a lifelong love of stories, reading, and language. 

Playful language, colorful animations, and engaging sound effects provide adelightful environment for children to explore as they build their readingskills. 

Follow the road to Imagination, then catch the train for Wordville Station! Thiscolorful journey is filled with activities to help your child learn criticalreading skills, build confidence, and discover the joy of reading.

• Over 100 reading lessons
• 30 interactive storybooks
• Printable activities
• Record and playback
• 3-4 skill levels
• Progress reports and automatic help

• Advanced phonics
• Writing and creativity
• Comprehension
• Prediction
• Listening skills
• Rhyming worlds
• Amazon.com Review 

  Reader Rabbit takes a road trip, and kids who go along for the ride will learn everything from homonyms to alphabetizing with this occasionally inspired CD-ROM. Kids can follow the Road to Imagination to 15 different reading lands, or visit Wordville Station for straightforward access to word games. Both of these multilevel elements are designed for kids who already have a grasp of the alphabet.

  Each stop along the Road to Imagination has a reading-related theme, such as an owl looking for words with long and short vowel sounds for the letter e. Animated hot spots reinforce the theme, as well as activities that involve rhyming, syllabication, listening to letter sounds, and word recognition. There are also a couple of books to be found at each stop along the road (30 in all), with questions at the end that inspire both reading comprehension and imaginative flights of fancy. An easy-to-use recording program enables kids to read the books out loud and play back their words. Wordville Station has four games that teach compound words, vowel sounds, alphabetizing, and matching opposites, homonyms, and rhyming words.

  I Can Read has some bright moments: Reader Rabbit loosens up a bit and imitates Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark, and former president Clinton as he emcees an alphabetization exercise called the Alphabet Dance. The vagaries of the English language are exposed when a bird of paradise plant transforms into an exotically plumed bird of paradise, and then that same bird rolls a pair of dice. A tiny bit of sophistication seems to have seeped into the wide-eyed world of Reader Rabbit, and it will probably be appreciated by kids who have cut their pop-culture teeth on the rapid-fire fare provided by Nickelodeon and Nintendo.

  Fear not, Reader Rabbit and Mat the Mouse still run a pretty straight-laced establishment, with plenty of opportunities for parents to check progress, control gameplay and levels, and educate themselves about educating their young readers. But there's a bit more sass here than in the Reader Rabbit programs designed for younger kids--an intelligent way for the series to adjust to its increasingly sophisticated audience. (Ages 5 to 8) --Anne Erickson

  Amazon.com Product Description 

  This title is designed to teach critical reading and writing skills with phonics-based word puzzles, animated storybooks, and reading comprehension games. Kids will follow the Road to Imagination, then catch the train for Wordville Station, where they'll join Reader Rabbit and friends in an action-packed adventure. The activities in this colorful reading program build confidence and pleasure in reading, in addition to helping your child learn critical reading skills.

Zoombinis Island Odyssey takes your child on an adventure where math & logic is the only way to get back their homeland!

Amazon.com Product Description 

Sail off with the Zoombinis on an epic adventure of math and logic, now with a scientific twist. The dastardly Bloats have evacuated Zoombini Isle. Join a determined band of Zoombinis as they bravely return to their ravaged homeland and save the wild Zerbles by restoring their once-fertile habitat. Build logic and science thinking skills while discovering concepts in astronomy, mechanics, cryptography, and life sciences--including the food chain, ecology, and genetics. Sail through seven intriguing, interactive logic puzzles with three skill levels.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 offers you a world where the only limit is your imagination -- use it to create incredible theme parks with the most amazing roller coasters! Expand the fun and excitement with new rides, features, and gameplay.

Amazon.com Review 

Nobody could have predicted the phenomenal success of humble, little Roller Coaster Tycoon. Such simple, addictive games had been tried before; even the whole amusement park idea had been done in Theme Park, but RCT exploded with unmatched success. Legions of gamers enjoyed the colorful graphics, the simple but ever-so-opinionated patrons, the easy-to-master financial model, and the thrill of building, testing, and then watching customers enjoy your own roller coaster--or watching with glee as they got sick after their first ride! Roller Coaster Tycoon had the winning combination of fun and mainstream appeal that catapulted it to the top of the charts and spawned two expansion packs, as well as a horde of imitators. (Just conduct a search here at Amazon.com for games with the word "tycoon" in them.)

Ironically, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 itself is an imitator of RCT. Perhaps in an effort not to spoil a good thing, or perhaps to guarantee success with low-system-spec mainstream fans, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 plays almost exactly like the original game--maybe too much like it.

The graphics are still 2-D, and if you didn't know better you'd swear you were looking at the first game. This isn't good considering that the first game came out in 2000 and looked dated even then. But the ability to play the game at a much higher resolution does alleviate some of this disappointment, and a closer look reveals a greater variety of animation, more people, and a smoother overall look. The audio is, again, fantastic. It's that perfect mix of screams, giggles, grumbles, retches, and carnival music that brings the scent of cotton candy to your nose every time.

New structures are available as well as some new rides, but the biggest change is the addition of themes. Want a Haunted Park? They've given you the artwork to create one. You'll also find a Wild West theme, a children's theme, and more. The scenarios are grouped more logically by difficulty, and fans will be delighted with a sand box mode that allows limitless free play. RCT2 has a wide variety of new coaster designs, including a few famous coasters from around the world--mostly from Six Flags theme parks. A welcome addition is the ability to open a separate screen where you can test and build a custom coaster, without worrying about space or money, before buying and placing it in the game. Perhaps the best new addition is the ability to raise and lower ground en masse, removing one of the most annoying features of the first game.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 isn't a ground-breaking sequel, but it is an excellent game for fans of the series. We wish they'd done more with the concept, brought it into 3-D, or used higher-resolution artwork, but the gameplay remains the same. And that's a thrill ride on its own. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• Same addictive gameplay
• New coaster-builder tool
• Improved graphics resolution

• The meager improvements don't really help already-dated graphics
• They could have done so much more

Amazon.com Product Description 

The bestselling game that started the tycoon game craze ramps up the fun with all-new rides, features, and gameplay that allow you to create and run the ultimate amusement park. You can now add any of 25 different Six Flags roller coasters from five different Six Flags locations, including Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure. Break ground and start from scratch, open the gates to existing parks, or just create the most gut-wrenching roller coaster ride ever--now you can play your way. In Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 there are no limits but your imagination.

Explore the world's amazing animals! Go face-to-face with wild animals as you witness fascinating habitats filled with untamed adventure. Includes over 40 unique animals in 16 action-packed activities!

Amazon.com Review 

When a bat named Batney Ears started singing like Britney Spears, not only were we hooked--we also learned about echolocation. JumpStart: Animal Adventures is a lush mix of entertainment and education that does detailed justice to the wild world of animals.

The program starts with the news that Habitat magazine is looking for kids who love animals to enter a contest. To fill out the four contest-entry forms, kids must explore a temperate forest, an African savanna, a rain forest, and a tide pool to gather animal information, photographs, and points. Each habitat has three screens, with gorgeous graphics and rich, ambient sound. Leafcutter ants, elephants, crabs, and 37 other creatures gladly share information about themselves and their environment. Clicking on certain animals will yield a catchy video (imagine crabs sounding like Green Day as they sing about limb regeneration) and games.

The games, which can be adjusted to three difficulty levels, give this program a seamless feel, adding depth to the educational experience. For example, when kids click on a beaver, the beaver launches into a detailed explanation of why it builds dams. The beaver then invites players to cut trees for a dam, adding that they must be small trees because beavers can't move larger ones. After the correct trees are gnawed down, kids can complete the dam by fitting the downed trees into a dam-shaped puzzle. After that, they're invited to gather mud from the riverbank, then help the beaver use his tail to pack the mud into the dam. Your child will play four games, hone spatial and sorting skills, and develop an in-depth understanding of the phrase "busy as a beaver." And this is just one animal in a program that has dozens of creatures to learn from.

Goal-oriented kids will love relentlessly progressing toward the various rewards the program offers, culminating in a quiz show called "The Animal Smarts Game" that can be played alone, or with a friend. Free-form exploration is also an option. We were impressed with the way JumpStart: Animal Adventures immersed us in exotic environments, and treated games as a teaching tool instead of an afterthought. (Ages 4 and older) --Anne Erickson

Amazon.com Product Description 

JumpStart: Animal Adventures brings kids face-to-face with wild animals in their natural habitats. Filled with untamed adventure and fascinating fun, Animal Adventures challenges players to become animal experts by identifying more than 40 animals and collecting their photos. Along the way kids will help a squid escape a poisonous fish, race zebras away from hungry predators, swing from the treetops with titi monkeys, and much more. Plus, Animal Adventures includes dozens of printable animal stickers for kids to collect and trade.

Animal Adventures's four exotic animal habitats offer hours of adventurous fun: the African savanna, a temperate forest, the Amazon rain forest, and a tide pool. Each habitat comes with its own set of animal games and activities. Kids interact with and learn about a variety of animals, including elephants, monkeys, snakes, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, and cheetahs. A total of 16 action-packed animal activities place kids in the animals' real-world, wild habitats, or kids can create their own animal habitats.

Investigate clues as Nancy Drew unlocks a killer's secret! Suspects are everywhere and not everyone welcomes Nancy poking around town. Think fast on your feet to solve challenging puzzles.

Amazon.com Review 

Nancy Drew is back--but this time as an interactive sleuth. Secrets Can Kill offers stimulating, long-term gameplay with an interesting plot and intricate word games. With all the intrigue, mystery, and adventure you've enjoyed in the Nancy Drew books, this role-playing game provides challenging and exciting computer activities for girls.

In this traditional Nancy Drew mystery, you play the role of Nancy as a junior, senior, or master detective. While visiting your aunt, you become involved in a murder case at Paseo Del Mar High School. You must help the police find the person who killed Jake Rogers--a notorious member of the student body. Through sleuthing with your ever-present magnifying glass, you discover hundreds of clues, each leading to the truth behind the students of the high school.

Secrets Can Kill employs 3-D graphics with detailed animations. Each character reacts to Nancy's specific situations. The intelligence of the game leaves nothing to be assumed--and the creepy music and hazardous situations keep you on your toes. Remember to talk to everyone, and check for evidence in the most unlikely places. With a surprise ending--unless you are the ultimate supersleuth--Secrets Can Kill is a fantastic mystery for girls of all ages. --Madeleine Miller

Amazon.com Product Description 

A crime has been committed in Florida's Paseo Del Mar High School, and Nancy goes undercover to track down the criminal. Secrets Can Kill is a daring role-playing mystery game that challenges you to solve a murder as you role-play the part of the famous teenage detective, Nancy Drew. Use your powers of deduction to decide which of the students at Paseo Del Mar are friend or foe. As the crime unfolds, explore the town and find hidden clues, solve cool puzzles, collect and save useful inventory items, interrogate the suspects, and catch the murderer red-handed! Solve the mystery--if you dare!