SRescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc
Company: Fisher-Price
Estimated Price: $19.99
Age Group:4 -7
http://www.learningco.com
Also included free:
Fisher-Price, Time to Play Pet Shop
Age Group 4 +
Also included free:
Little People Christmas Activity Center
Age Group 3+

This month's column is a little unusual because we'll be looking at three CDs in a single review. Fisher-Price's Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc comes with an added bonus: two CDs that cannot be purchased separately. Interestingly enough, the bonus CDs are good enough to be sold alone.

Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc is the Learning Company's latest release in time for Christmas. I was impressed with the non-violent situations that the children interact with. The age of 4 to 7 is appropriate for this program.

I reviewed several of the situations given to me at the training center. One of the situations involved putting out a fire at the Pet Shop. While playing this, I put on my heavy ski gloves to recreate the same ability as a child would have using a mouse. That is, clumsy and not so exact. I was able to aim on the windows and put the fire out and even rescue the animals inside the shop. I moved on to the Museum. Here I had to help remove priceless art objects by using a jackhammer to get into the room and then a hook to lift things out. Once again, I was able to do this with my heavy gloves on. I was impressed with the way that the program was geared to the small hands and jerky moments of the smaller child.

But I found that the Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc had a problem that I could not overcome. There was very little problem solving to be done during these "emergency situations." It was all done for me. I was told what must be completed and how to do it. In the flood situation I found that the water rescues were very slow processes without much adventure and with no actual rescues being done. I thought maybe it was because of my age (being a little over 7 years), so I gave it to a neighbor's child (5) to play. She wanted to get to the end and the long river trip bored her. But the thoughts of making her own gear and printing them out made the program a little bit more bearable for her.

Little People Christmas Activity Center
In Little People Christmas Activity Center there are different activities that I can engage in. Each one is guaranteed to be as good as, if not better than, the one before. After I entered my name, I arrived in a room where I began to make my choices. What would I like to do next? Decorate the tree? Make a snow"person"? Sing Christmas songs? Create Christmas crafts, such as cards, tags or even wrapping paper? I did them all! To make a snowperson I selected the type, complete with clothes and accessories. As I began to give the snowperson a shape, my cursor changed into two mittens, bringing my choice to life. Then I added a face, clothes, hats, and anything else I wanted. Want an added plus to your child's creation? You can print in every part of this program! Imagine sending cards or wrapping gifts, or even sending a picture to a grandparent that your child has created.

Time to Play Pet Shop
This is another delightful program that comes bundled with Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc. I began the program by "signing in," and I became the owner of my own pet shop. Here I could start my own coloring book by printed this page of ownership. I continued to the main menu and to my pet shop. I was cleverly given instructions by Emily which I could very clearly understand. My first stop was to order which pets I wanted. This was so easy! While selecting my pets, I could click on a button to hear all about that pet before I selected it for my shop. From there I returned to my pet shop and became engaged in one of the many fun games and activities offered. And I am printing all the way. I have the choice of playing doctor, giving my pets a bath, creating a fish tank, or even feeding my pets. I could have spent hours here! This program teachs the children the different tasks involved in having and raising a pet in a delightful and fun way. With this program, parents can teach their children the responsibilities of owning a pet before they get a real one.

What's included
Fisher-Price Rescue Heroes comes with a CD-ROM and TWO added surprises. Included in the package that I bought for Christmas was Fisher-Price Time to Play Pet Shop, CD and Fisher-Price Little People Christmas Activity Center CD. Each CD also comes with a short user manual. And an added plus for parents, a mail-in $10.00 rebate form is included.

Requirements and Installation
Rescue Heroes requires Mac OS 7.5.1 or greater, a PPC (90MHz recommended), 17 MB RAM, and at least a 4x-speed CD-ROM drive. (All three CDs are dual platform.)

Summary
Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc was created to follow the storyline of the TV series Rescue Heroes. I found the graphics and the maneuverability of the mouse for the younger children to be outstanding. I also agree that it helps to promote learning in a fun way. However, I was disappointed with the level of creativity and excitement that they associate with this program. The levels of the rescues could have been a little more difficult with more adventurous endings. If all the rescues were written as well as the animal rescues, then I would have been more satisfied with this program.

For those reasons, I'm afraid that I can only give this program three MacMice.

On the other hand, Fisher-Price Time to Play Pet Shop, and Fisher-Price Little People Christmas Activity Center are such delightful programs that I spent over two hours reviewing them! Like Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc, they are geared towards the younger age children, and the graphics are likewise proportioned. Both programs are very navigable by young hands. There are many things to do and I could not help but think how much fun my grandchildren will have with both of these programs.

These two are wonderfully imaginative and creative programs, and it would be well worth the cost of purchasing them alone. But I can't. I tried. They are only bundled with the Rescue Heroes.

Little People Christmas Activity Center and Time to Play Pet Shop compensate for the uninspired design that went into some of the rescues in Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc. They're both very charming delightful programs that I can guarantee your child will spend many hours enjoying.

I give both of these programs four MacMice each!

The bottom line is if it were not for the bundled extras, I would not purchase Rescue Heroes, Hurricane Havoc. But these two extras make this program a worthwhile purchase.

MacMice Rating: 4

Lyn Price
lyn@mymac.com