Barney: Under the Sea
Reviewed by Ty Brewer
Published by Microsoft

Age Group: Beginners, Age 2 to 5 Type: Keyboard Bangers Price: $35.00 US

Description:

The New Kid in Town

The way I figure it, Bill Gates wants to ensure his daughter has plenty of quality Microsoft software for entertainment. Instead of developing all their titles in-house, Microsoft wisely partnered with an established company to produce their first games. Their choice: 7th Level, a top-notch company with a history and dedication to educational titles. You may be aware that 7th Level recently restructured their organization to focus on development tools and contract work instead of creating their own titles. From the results I see here, this was a wise move. 7th Level is free from the financial burden of distribution and licensing hassles and can focus their creative talents on the end product.

The Barney Channel

Count me as a parent that swore my daughter would never have a Barney doll, or any other Barney merchandise. That was before my daughter looked at me with those big eyes and asked for a Barney doll. What can I say? Even though I find the entire Barney TV completely devoid of adult entertainment, they have reached the children as few programs have before. Even though I can't watch the TV show with her, she watches it and gets good quality educational content. So even with my anti-Barney sentiments, we are a Barney household, and the better for it.

I believe the success of this title is due in part to the association with Barney. I interviewed George Grayson of 7th Level shortly before he resigned during the restructuring of his company. In this interview I asked if 7th Level would stay in the educational market in light of the increasing competition from larger, more established companies. His response was that 7th Level found it difficult to compete with the larger media companies because 7th Level didn't own any characters. For instance, take the successful "Little Howie" games such as Tuneland, from 7th Level: if the character had been Mickey Mouse instead of Little Howie, wouldn't you be more likely to buy the game? In other words, how can Little Howie compete with Mickey Mouse when your child begs you to buy them the Mickey game?

This new partnership allows 7th Level access to the Barney character (the Barney Mindshare) and gives the parent access to 7th Level's excellent technology and experience. In short, everybody wins.

The Game

Barney: Under the Sea is one of several titles featuring Barney that operate with or without the Microsoft Actimate dolls. Actimates are robotic dolls that talk and play games with your child. Look for a future Actimate review. For this review, I'll focus on the game without the Actimate, as the Actimate is not required to play this game.

Barney: under the Sea targets children ages two and up, although children over 4 would probably find this game without challenge. My two and a half year old daughter appears to be the perfect age. She recently learned to use the Microsoft EasyBall and can now control most games herself. Even if your child can't man the mouse herself, the child can participate and instruct you (the parent) what to do.

The game consists of six separate play areas. Five of the play areas are educational, with one play area for watching Barney videos (I guess this teaches them how to operate a VCR).

• Baby Bop's Castle: children learn to identify and sort items by placing them in their proper rooms. For instance, does the rocking horse go in the kitchen or the play room?
• BJ's Giant Shell: children identify parts of the body
• Hootin' Annie's Undersea Cave: children learn sea animals by name, appearance, and sound
• Trisha's Treasure Chest: children identify animal differences by shape, color, and appearance
• Professor Tinkerputt's Dive Site: children learn to count by stacking objects
• Video Submarine: children learn that the green triangle means "play" and watch videos

Professor Tinkerputt and Baby Bop

Each room offers 3 educational levels (Activity Mode) and one "Explorer Mode". If your child breezes through a level, you can always select a harder level. For instance, my daughter is on Level 3 on Trisha's Treasure Chest but Level 1 with Professor Tinkerputt's Dive Shop. For fun you should try the "Explorer Mode" because there are no right or wrong answers and the activities are generally more fun.

The game also comes with a Parent's Room with

• Gifts: pictures your child created in Explore Mode activities
• CD Title Information: Curriculum information about the learning activities
• Actimates Barney: information on using this add-on product
• Reading Room: Articles on how to become more involved with your child's education

The New Standard

During a recent meeting with Cynthia Sorrels, the Editor of Kid's Domain reviews, I was told I was the "least likely reviewer to award a gold medal." I took that as a compliment (although she may have been telling me to ease up on my criticisms?!). Either way, this is no longer a problem. This title gets my first Gold award. Now that this barrier is broken, perhaps others will follow.

I give this award for several reasons. First, this is the first game that keeps my daughter occupied for long periods of time. Second, the interface is easy and mistake free - I don't need to show my daughter how to move a star from one stack to another. Third, the games are age-appropriate while offering increased difficulty as they grasp earlier concepts. Fourth, the overall polish and delivery of the game leave nothing to be desired.

I would have liked the "Submarine Video" room to tell the child that the "play" button is the green triangle. Instead, the instructions merely state "press the play button to watch videos." Yeah, like any two-year old knows what a play button is when three buttons are present (stop and pause also). I also didn't like the weird pause in the character's voice when they congratulate the child for good work. Example: BJ says "That's great. You found the....yellow starfish". It's kind of like a fill-in-the-blank speech pattern but it doesn't seem to bother the kids, so I guess it shouldn't bother me, or you.

I recommend this game strongly for parents with children ages four and younger. I believe a child approaching 5 may find this game lacks challenge. For parents with younger children, this game may be your ticket.

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