Mr. Right's Animal Farm
Reviewed by Ty Brewer
Published by Powerhouse Entertainment

Age Group: Age 2 to 5, Age 4 to 8 Type: Language Arts Price: $29.95 US

Description:

Right's Animal Farm is a Golden Book interactive story for children ages 3-7. This title is squarely aimed at parents familiar with traditional paper bound Golden Books - a staple for over 50 years. In Right's Animal Farm, the farm animals teach Mr. Right a lesson about how being happy is more important than being neat and orderly. Hmmmm. I don't want to give anything away by telling how the story ends, but I must to review the title appropriately (ha ha). Mr. Right is a farmer who is very set in his ways. Everything on his farm must be just right: each animal has a place; the barns are very clean; he even vacuums the sheep pen. "Even though the farmer was contented, all the animals were tired of the tidiness, the neatness, and most of all order." The animals decided to play a joke on the farmer. When Mr. Right awoke in the morning, the cow was in his room. Not only that, the cow made a "meoww." The cat was even in the duck pond! In the end, Mr. Right begins to laugh. He decides that sometimes, too much order is not fun.

The game allows the user to select the level of interaction with the story. When I chose to have the book read to me, a friendly voice reads the pages of the book and short animations helped deliver the story. The words of the book are highlighted to help children follow along. The simple animations assist but don't carry the story. During the story, the user is given opportunities to play little games that follow the story line. If you aren't interested in the game, just click the arrow to turn the page.

Notes:

The game has several features to allow you the choice of how you use the game. The story can be read, read with interaction, or just play the interactive games. Activities include Sing Along, Music Videos, sounds, coloring book, and four games related to the story - Tag, Connect-the-dots, Animal Blocks, and Horn (similar to the game Simon).

Sing Along is not for the musically challenged. Because the songs are original to this title, singing along with the words and music will take some practice. The songs are good but not "catchy," so don't worry about being uable to get them out of your head. Connect-the-dots is fairly standard and is implemented well. It's not too challenging so don't expect it to occupy an older child. I had plenty of fun with Animal Blocks. This game allows you to mix and match the heads, torso, and legs of several of the farm animals. You can create some entertaining combinations. Caution: if your child is very young and is still learning animals, they may be a little confused at seeing a duck head on a cow's body with the legs of a sheep. Horn is similar to "Simon" or "Follow Me." The animals make sounds and you must repeat the order the animals made. Pretty easy but can be fun. It even lets you win at easy levels.

The Coloring Book option allows you to pick pages from the story and print them out as black and white pages to color with Crayons.

For the very young child, the Animal Sounds page is entertaining. The screen is filled with pictures of animals and several musical instruments. Just click on an animal and the appropriate sound is made - click the cow and you hear "moo."" Clicking on the instruments gives you the Mr. Right's theme song played solo by that instrument. My 19-month old daughter found this page to be very entertaining. She would touch an animal and I would click on it to make the correct sound. Unfortunately, the "ribbit" of the frog scared her quite a bit. With parental supervision, this title can appeal to parents with children under 3. Having the story read aloud with music and talking animals will occupy the child for at least 20 minutes.

Installation went without any problems. The CD contains both English and Spanish versions to appeal to larger audiences. Unfortunately, Mr. Right's Animal Farm does not come with an un-install program. I hate to repeat myself, but I just can't understand why publishers neglect the uninstall.

Features:

Mr. Right's Animal Farm is thoroughly enjoyable for the younger crowd. Although they recommend ages 3-7, a typical 7-year old would probably lose interest before exploring the entire breadth of the program. For the 80% of American's whose children are "above average" you may actually get some mileage out of this title with a 2 1/2 year old. Because the interface is so simple, even younger children who lack the dexterity to manipulate a mouse can enjoy this title without parental supervision.

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