Elmo's Letter Adventure

© 1999 NewKidCo
$39.95, Sony Playstation
Teaches: early reading, letter recognition

CTR Review

One of the very first preschool games for consoles, this simple game asks kids to sort upper and lower case letters by steering Elmo through a series of 3D environments. Strengths are ease of use (even 3 year olds can figure out how to move Elmo) and an initially engaging format. Weaknesses are a limited format that kids can loose interest in. Also problematic is that the program uses a simple spelling program as a bonus game, which is too hard for the intended age range. None-the-less, the activity is good for helping children recognize letters, and offers plenty of repetition in an engaging format. Note that there is a similar title available for the Game Boy Color, called Elmo's ABCs.