Reader Rabbit Reading Learning System bundles two CD-ROMs with a set of flash cards and a music CD. Only one of the two CD-ROMs features new material and that material is very poorly presented.
The new content, called High Flying Act Interactive Storybook, looks and plays as if it belongs on an interactive book reader not a computer. Upon further research, we discovered that High Flying Act is also produced for the LeapPad, an interactive book reader from Leapfrog, and that the software was adapted from the LeapPad book.
Because they’re based on printed books, LeapPad titles have static visuals and rely on touch and sound to create interactivity. This type of interactivity doesn’t translate well to home computers because most don’t include touch screens or other types of touch interfaces. Computers, however, have colorful computer graphics that can be animated to produce interaction, something the title’s developers should have considered taking advantage of when adapting this title from the Leap Pad.
Here is an example of the lack of animation: one of the games is a concentration-type game which asks kids to select a two-consonant blend card and then find its match in a bunch of upside down cards. When a child selects an upside down card to see if it matches, the card doesn’t animate and turn over to reveal letters, a word, or an object; rather, the matching is determined by a voice-over (as it would be for a LeapPad book). This motionless programming happens throughout the software and quickly becomes dull. It doesn’t match features of similar edutainment titles.
While the second CD-ROM has six solid stand-alone games pulled from older Reader Rabbit adventure titles, these activities were better when played in a story context, which is missing.
Overall, this bundle isn’t a great deal because its new content is poorly adapted for computers and its additional content isn’t new.
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