Disney's Zoog Genius: Language Arts, History and Geography

$19.99, Win 95/98/ME, Mac

Teaches: language arts, history, geography

CTR Review

Despite zippy graphics and an upbeat presentation, this CD version of Zoog is just plain boring. The quiz show, based on Disney's Zoog TV series, stars characters like Dotcom, Twitich and Browser. Play begins as kids select a long or short game (seven or 17 questions), difficulty level (one, two or three) and the number of players (one or two). Each player is assigned a buzz-in key. Kids simply read or listen to the questions, which are displayed on the screen, and buzz-in their answers. A little irreverent commentary is tossed in and that's about it. Question formats don't change, and the whole experience is dull. There are two separate programs in the series. One quizzes language arts, history and geography, while the other tests math, science and technology knowledge. (New questions can be downloaded from the web.) Because the questions are educational, teachers could use this software as filler in between activities, but outside of the classroom, kids aren't going to be asking to play.