The latest outing by Zoboo the lemur and the Kratt Brothers is Zoboomafoo: Creature Quest, what an adventure it is for your child!
The Kratt Brothers have been about for a number of years in the United States creating quality children's television for the PBS network. Their, cohost, a Madagascan lemur named Zoboomafoo acts as a guide around the game which is centred around the Animal Junction, a watering hole from which all your choices of gameplay can be made.
The purpose of the game is to find and collect pieces of treasure which will enable the player to progress through the game. Items in the Animal Junction are active and can be clicked upon to start new games.
I do think that they could have made this clearer, but by selecting the different animals and objects, you can proceed to different areas. Due to the nature of this game, I can understand however how this would add to the treasure hunt aspect of the title.
Everything scenario within the game is very clearly outlined and understandable with the Kratt Brothers making a video appearance during various stages through the game. The title has a wealth of video footage and general information about all sorts of wildlife that will be of interest to both young and older players.
Zoboo himself is a likeable character, appearing as an animated lemur and also showing footage of a Zoboo in "real life" capering about.
As many of us as parents will be reading this review, we take for granted the skills that make us able to use the computer on a day to day basis. These programs however for the young enable so many new skills to be learned.
The game covers so many areas using animals (which most kids love) to engross the child. The following items are included as per the back of the box:
Interesting Animal Facts, Animal Sounds, Animal Habitats, Number Recognition, Addition, Counting, Early Phonics, Colours & Creativity, Visual Memory, Pattern Recognition, Following Instructions, Logical Reasoning, Critical Thinking and Computer Mouse Skills.
The games and puzzles are varied and not at all simplistic for the target age group. Everything is colourful, larger than life and guaranteed to keep your child's attention and bring them back for more. Everything is very well laid out and also included the facility to take the fun away from the computer with printable activities and treasure maps - just perfect for that long car trip!
The Kratt Brothers are a lot of fun for the kids in this title as well and with careful attention paid to phonics throughout, are easy to understand and copy. With their friendly enthusiastic style, learning is a lot of fun on the Creature Quest!
In summary, Zoboomafoo: Creature Quest from GameNation is a great learning tool to assist you in teaching your children and will be played time and time again.
- Tory Favro
