National Geographic Panda

$30, Nintendo DS

Teaches: animal facts, reading, biology

CTR Rating: 70%

CTR Review

"Boring" and "hard to use," this Panda simulation made specifically for the Nintendo DS tries to present a Nintendogs-like experience, but falls short in the fun department. You start with a baby panda, which you can pet with the DS stylus. By clicking on a chart on the wall of the Panda house, you can read reprinted National Geographic articles to learn more about Pandas. As your panda grows, new baby pandas will join him in Panda Park. The game graphics and sounds change according to the time of day. Your panda can play with playground equipment including a tire swing, seesaw and slide, and you can let your daily allowance grow so you can go on a shopping spree and buy panda food and toys immediately or order items by mail via Panda Delivery. This could be a good game, if there were more to learn and more to do.