JumpStart Pet Rescue
© 2009 Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
Representing one small step for the Wii platform and one giant leap for educational software in general, the Wii version of JumpStart symbolizes an important revolution for children's software. However, this title is far from perfect. You start by choosing one of three game save slots, and then picking a male or female avatar. From this point, you're given a lot of choices that have little meaning. You soon learn that JumpStart Pet Rescue is a connected maze of 3D worlds, packed with minigames. There's a lot to explore, and -- the good news -- many of the learning games are well designed and perfectly leveled to match the generic preschool curriculum. You can paddle through rivers collecting stars, discover hidden treasures in a jungle, start an orchestra of common instruments, and make friends with pets by giving them presents. We're not sure how you rescue a pet. There's a lot to do, and many of the games are arcade like, doing a nice job asking children to sort, classify, count and recognize letters. We noticed a lot of games of concentration and patterns. There's a total of 50 bite-sized games which reinforce 75 school-related skills Weaknesses include blotchy graphics, and an inability to make changes to the environment, such as entries in storybook or paintings. Testers noted that the interface could be crisper and easier to control. The bottom line? This is a solid title that offers plenty to do, but it could be better. We're hoping that Knowledge Adventure continues to polish this concept, using higher quality graphics and more innovative input mechanisms.
$40, Wii
Teaches: math, reading, logic, counting, letter recognition, sorting, patterns
CTR Rating: 84%