Dora the Explorer: Lost City Adventure
© 2002 Atari
Dora's teddy bear is missing and children must help her find it in (and other items) in the Lost City. The program can be played in either adventure or freeplay mode, and is charming, despite the fact that Dora seems to yell her way through each scene (why doesn't she use a normal speaking voice?). When played in adventure mode, the program is quite directed and linear (needlessly so), but testers didn't seem to mind. Graphics and characters are appealing and the five activities can be played at three difficulty levels. These focus primarily on teaching numbers in English and Spanish, and the software does a good job of switching back and forth from one language to another. Although we liked the game, we are concerned with longevity-- the adventure is basically a one-time through event and somewhat brief, compared to other adventure programs. While it would be fine for home use, it would be best in a preschool classroom, for exposing children to English and Spanish.
$19.95, Win, Mac
Teaches: English, Spanish, numbers