Freddi Fish ABC's Under the Sea
© 2010 Atari, Inc.
Freddi Fish -- the androgynous fish that looks as if he/she could've swum out of The Little Mermaid , has been to a lot of platforms, but never before to the Nintendo DS. The good news is that some of the eight games (e.g., the letter tracing activity) give preschoolers some viable play options. The bad news is that if you're expecting a Freddi Fish scavenger hunt adventure, you'll be disappointed. Also, our testers noted that some of the timed games can make a child feel trapped, and one of the sorting games has slushy-feeling controls. These are minor issues, however. The eight games cover typical school readiness content, with names like Bubble Bonanza, Counting Corral, Soup Stir, Costume Catastrophe, Ship Shape, Junkyard Jumble, Freddi's Toys, Sandy Beach and Refrigerator Magnets. One of the best is Ship Shape, in which a child colors in letter outlines. One innovative feature is the time sensitive, individualized feedback that uses the Nintendo DS clock for clues. Freddi might say "it's almost time for lunch" around noon time, or "today is your birthday" if you've entered your child's birthday in the preferences. You can also see which activities your child has been playing, using the record keeping feature. The bottom line? For $20, this is a solid title that could be better. Created by 1st Playable Productions for Atari, under the older Humongous label.
$20, Nintendo DS
Teaches: penmanship (letters), sorting, counting
CTR Rating: 84%