Freddi Fish 2
Reviewed by Jason Levine
Published by Humongous Entertainment

Age Group: Age 2 to 5, Age 4 to 8 Type: Puzzles/Memory Price: $ 40 US

PC version requires:
486 8 MB RAM, 1 M 2x CD-ROM, Windows 95, also on Windows 3.1, 640x480x256

Mac version requires:
Version is available.

Description:

The guppies are gulping and the teacher, Mrs. Croaker, is practically croaking! Why? Because it looks a nasty ghost has stolen the guppies' toys! But, fear not. Our fearless, finned heroine, Freddi Fish, and her sidekick, Luther, suspect that this "ghost" is a phony as a wooden sand dollar. So Freddi spawns a plan to trap the thieving spook. And that's where you're kid comes in. Freddi and Luther need his or her help in locating the various items need to construct their trap, so the toys can be returned to the anxious guppies and the fish can go back to school. Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse is, like its predecessor, an animated adventure in which your kid guides Freddi and Luther around their undersea world picking up objects and solving puzzles.

The Best Animation Not Done by a Mouse

Freddi Fish 2 is, in a word, gorgeous. Every scene is brightly colored, full of little details (as well as lots of the trademark Humongous animated clickables), and the animation is silky smooth (at least on a 4X CD-ROM). In fact, the game looks so good that when we first ran it I thought I was watching Disney's The Little Mermaid. The game has a lot more going for it than just good looks, however. There are enough puzzles to keep just about any kid in the stated age range (3 to 8) busy for a while, and the game's longevity is boosted by the fact that objects needed to build the trap change each time a new game is started. Although all of the puzzles are very easy for an adult to solve, Freddi Fish 2 remains true to Humongous' stated philosophy of not underestimating a kid's intelligence. In fact, judging by John's (our 4-year-old) reaction to the game, some of the puzzles, especially those that require the kid to find an object to bring to one location so that they can free up an object to use at still another location, stretch the younger attention spans in the age range a bit too far. John didn't have any trouble understanding that the scissors was the right tool to use to cut the seaweed holding down the diving helmet. (And he was thrilled and proud of himself when he solved the puzzle!) But his attention started to wander on those puzzles that required shuttling different objects among 3 or 4 locations.

Being a Humongous title, Freddi Fish 2 comes with a boatload of extras. There a couple of side games, which are as colorfully done as the rest of the game, although they're not exactly original. The title "Crab Invaders" tells you pretty much all you need to know about that game, and "Ceiling Tiles" is, natch, the old sliding tiles games. John got a bigger kick out of the movie theater that allows kids to choose among 16 animated (and generally pretty funny) shorts. The package also includes a very nice, 24-page activity book and a set of stickers.

In sum, Freddi Fish 2 comes recommended, but I'd take that 3 to 8 age rating with an anchovy pizza's measure of salt. 5 to 8 seems about right to me.

You can download a PC demo.

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