Games Reviews

My son loved the learning table so I really thought the pots and pans would be a big hit when I purchased them when my son was 8 mo old. I could not get the product to say anything but, "Red pan in, Red pan out". I called the hotline at Fisher Price and they told me to change the battery which I had already done. While I was on the phone, my son dropped the pot and it began to sing the alphabet song. The cust. service rep. told me that the pots said and sang things at random and that it reponds when manipulated like a child would. I was disapointed because the toy responds VERY randomly and usually only sings if it is shaken very hard or dropped. I really feel I wasted my money on this one.

This toy looks very appealing. I purchased this for my son, 16 months at the time thinking it would be a great toy to stash in the kitchen cupboard so he could play while I cooked cleaned etc. He played with it about 4 times total and he's 2 now! It doesn't do enough and does have much other than a shape sorter. I consider it wasted money but if my experience helps anyone I'm glad.

This toy taught my son how to stack in a day. It is such a cute toy, and my son loves to beat everything with it. It has cute, silly songs, and as far as our toy goes it plays very easy. The only thing I don't like is the spoon, because it doesn't have a place. If you put it in the pot then you aren't able the sort the blocks. Overall, it's a good toy!

I love Leap Pad, but there is a catch. We've bought 3 pads (the first one broke almost immediately), and we've owned about 10 different books. Of those 10, only 3 still work. One got wet. Several were placed in toy boxes or kicked under beds. Once these books have been dropped a few times, or buried under toys, they cease to work correctly (if at all). They ARE only cardboard, after all.

The children who will get the most benefit and fun from these toys are young - say kindergarten through 3rd grade. Older kids are going to be less satisfied with the format, and will probably be happier working on an actual computer. Leap pad is particularly great for long car trips, but make sure the little game cartridges don't go missing. Also, the wire connecting the stylus to the pad can become caught when the pad is shut - and once that wire is ruined the pad is ruined too.

As I said, I think leap pad items are great. They can help a child with reading, spelling, basic math - all in a fun and stress-free venue. But these books are easily ruined by little ones. Your best bet may be to keep the leap pad books and pad out of reach of the kids when you can't be there to supervise, so that you can oversee the care and handling of the books and pad.

Leap pad is a good value, but only if you can make it last a while.

My daughter seems to like this game and seems to be learning from it.It's not a boring game at all.Im glad i bought it.My daughter is 7.

this obviously works for some parents. i have been an educator in early childhood for ten years; and i have been on the early childhood education board for 4. our goal on that board is to try to get the schools, the publishing companies and the parents to all get on board about what is developmentally appropriate and what is not. in my opinion; this toy was made to push parents to get their children to read and write before they are ready. of course; some children will be able to do this. however, full reading in kindergarten is not developmentally appropriate. eye muscles havent even been fully developed at this age to go from left to right as one does when reading. i bought the leap pad for kindergarten level for someone for a birthday present; their daughter is quite bright, and thankfully in a school where proper lessons are taught on a developmentally appropriate level; she had difficulty with this so we took it back and got her the easier one. that one was a bit better but as i "played it with her" i noticed the durability quality of it was mediocre, the voices of the speakers were not always clear and we could not hear what they were saying, and when she used the pen to press on the correct answer it told her she was incorrect and to try again; this happened quite often. i also noticed that the book/games offered for the infant to 36 mo leappad were not developmentally appropriate. maurice sendak's "where the wild things are" would have been more appropriate if placed in the toddler or kindergarten one. it seems such a wide span for a toy such as that to go from birth to 36 months. if i had been able to use it at the store i wouldnt have purchased it and i wont be purchasing it for my 2 1/2 yr old daughter. it has a great concept but in my opinion; poorly put together.

This is a great introduction to reading. I purchased this for Christmas '05 when my daughter was 2. She is now 3 and plays daily with the Alphabet Bus. She knows how to change the books and place the cartridge in. She also can follow the books directions of either playing or listening to the book. The voice is clear and the batteries are great (I just changed them after 6 months). This is a wonderful and durable product. She knows her ABC's, colors, shapes and numbers (we are working on addition and subtraction) and the Bus has been a great assistance to her learning at home and school.

We got this a few weeks ago for our 2 year old. She doesn't sit and read with it just yet but really loves pressing the different things on each page. She loves it and I can tell this will probably be a toy she plays with for a long time.

I agree, the description is totally useless- I have already
purchased the wrong size due to lack of information and now I will be paying shipping costs to send wrong item back- lesson
learned- do not buy from amazon

This item description is useless!! It does not list the size of the filter. These filters have letter sizes like A, B, C, D. So what size is this one???

My children were 5 and 7 when we bought rush hour three years ago. They both love it. It is their first choice for a car trip. My husband enjoys it as much as they do. We have also purchased the next two levels of cards. It is very challenging and requires alot of problem solving skills. We highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful item that will make your child think. It is also equally fun for adults. Challenge your child.

I just bought this game for my (...) grandson and now everyone is hooked on it. It is fun for everyone. My grandson can work all the way to advanced. Some of my friends have trouble with intermediate. It all depends on the person. It's teaches children to think for themselves.

This bag has about as much storage space as a child's suitcase, but since it's a back pack it can be rolled or carried. When used as a backpack, there is a piece of material that covers the wheels so they don't get clothing dirty. On other rolling backpacks I have noticed that the straps can be attached to the bag so that the excess strap doesn't hang or drag on the ground. Unfortunately this bag doesn't have that feature so if you adjust the strap to make it shorter you'll have to tuck the end of the strap up to make sure it doesn't drag or get stuck under the wheels.

The front pocket offers room to carry additional items or you can place your Cabbage Patch Kid inside and buckle him/her in with the attached waist belt. This keeps the doll from having to be squished into a bag and also keeps hands free from having to carry the CPK everywhere. The only problem is, once the bag is weighed down it can tip forward causing you Cabbage Patch Kid to fall face first to the ground. I've tried packing the bag with and with out the doll inside and both ways, it tips over in a matter of seconds. The "feet" at the front of the bag need to be longer or wider to balance the bag's weight evenly with the wheels in the back. If I can just find something to attach to give it more stability this bag will be just right.

I love this backpack. My daughter is in preschool and she loves cabbage patch kids. I bought her a Dora backpack at the beginning of the school year and the zipper broke. A little girl in her class had this backpack, so of course my daugher had to have it. So I searched around and found it!! It is very durable and easy to clean. My daughter likes that it has wheels and that she can wear it like a backpack. It has alot of room inside about the same room as a childs suitcase. It is perfect to hold her art work and library book! Hope this review helps!!!

My [...] has had a leapster(older version and lmax) for 2 years - We travel a lot with my older children and we use the leapster often. It is an incredible machine. My son at a very young age learned to recognize his alphabet - upper and lower letters, numbers, sounds, color combinations, blends and so much more. He loves to play and doesn't even realize he is learning so much. By the time he went to pre-school this past year he was a leap ahead of most kids his age. Now entering Kindergarten - he uses the games that put words together and had a sight vocab of over 30 words - maybe more. I am not boasting about my son but what Leapster has taught him. Of course school was a big infuence as well. Imagine spending hours doing something you love and it's not a video game.

Now, my [...] has the older version and is on his way.

Thanks leap frog for designing something small enough to take along easily and designed to look like my kids big kid games.
I am a big fan.
Sincerely, Michelle McGuigan

4 yr old loves it. Not as bad on batteries as previous reviews led me to believe. Have had it for 3 weeks now and we are still on original batteries.

As a teacher, I am always looking for ways to let my daughter have fun, but also be learning.
This does it! We have the older Leapster. It works with L-Max games. It is durable,teavels well, and the games actually teach something in a fun way.
They need to come up with more games though!!!
This is my first review, but love this so much, that I had to write about it! :)
By the way, it didnt work when I first opened it. Called the customer service, and THEY ANSWERED! LOL The lady brainstromed with me and we finally realized it was alittle piece of tape stuck to the prongs. But the key point is that they answered...real people. And they spent as much time as needed to work through the problem. Kudos, Leapster!!

Seriously, no Kaboom! How does this even make sense? It was the preeminent paddle game for the 2600.

I found the games on this particular TV Games plug-n-play console a mixed bag: about half the games were rather fun to play, and the other half were either kinda dull or downright frustrating.


The Good:

PONG- this unit has two versions of Pong, the arcade version, and the Atari console "Video Olympics" version. Both are fairly simple to play, although I'm more familiar with (and better at) the Video Olympics version, which was included in the original Atari joystick-edition TV Games unit (check it out at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000645DD/qid=1104131655/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-0299549-1691908?v=glance&s=toys&n=507846). I must admit, I found using a dial to move my "paddle" up and down was a bit more challenging than the using the stick control I'm so familiar with...

WARLORDS- Both the Atari console and arcade renditions are included here. While I enjoy playing both, I've got a weird dichotomy goin' with `em. Ya see, I almost always win in the console version, and I almost always lose in the arcade version. This is likely due to the fact that the computer adds fireballs to the arcade version after a few moments of play, as opposed to the single fireball that gets tossed about in the console version. Oh yes, and the arcade Warlords opponents are a fair sight more responsive than their console counterparts. In any case, this has become my fave game in the Atari Paddle TV Games system.

CIRCUS ATARI- Another carryover game from the Atari joystick TV games unit, I actually found it easier to play with the paddle controls than I did with the stick. Unfortunately, I'm still pretty lousy at Circus Atari... yet I keep comin' back for more abuse.


SUPER BREAKOUT- Thanks to the fairly wide array of game selections it offers, I found this "super" update much more fun than its predecessor, which is also included here.

DEMONS TO DIAMONDS: A weird combo of Centipede and Space Invaders. Even after all the time I've put into playing this, I'm still not very good at it...


The Bad:

BREAKOUT- After my exposure to Super Breakout, I've had little interest in playing the original version. Besides, I kinda burned out on it when I played it ad nauseam on the twice-aforementioned Atari joystick TV Games unit.

NIGHT DRIVER- Ya gotta stay within the sets of lights and not crash into the oncoming cars. I managed to skate through the easy & medium-skill levels without too much trouble. Ultimately, I found little excitement in playing this, although I do go back to it once in a blue moon, just to see if I missed somethin'...

CASINO- I've always been lousy at card games, and this mini-casino is no exception. Besides, this game doesn't hold a candle to most of the specialized casino plug-n-play units that've come out lately...

CANYON BOMBER- I've tried and I've tried, but I've yet to even come close to staying caught up with the score the computer opponent racks up.

STEEPLECHASE- Like Canyon Bombers, I've yet to come even close to winning this one.

STREET RACER- If this race game was a demolition derby, I'd be the undisputed champion. Unfortunately, the object of the game is to NOT crash into other cars, which I am not very good at...


The Other Stuff:

The controls were pretty responsive. Well, except for "dead zones" at the ends where the knob couldn't turn any further clockwise or counter-clockwise. Most of the games include a "Left/Right Difficulty" setting where you can adjust the knob's responsiveness for an extra challenge.

Overall, I found the Atari Paddle unit a decent entry in Jakks Pacific's TV Games plug-n-play games line. The only real drawbacks I encountered were a few games that I found nigh-unplayable. Fortunately, it contains a nice batch of good games that keep me comin' back...

`Late

I thought this paddle edition of the Jakks retro Atari games was an improvement over their joystick edition. It's easier to control the game options thanks to a lot of interactivity on-screen that lets you know difficulty settings and such. And this one includes arcade versions of Pong and Warlords to boot! I found the control pretty easy to use, though not as great as I remember Atari paddles working (but I was so much younger then, and possibly better eye-hand coordination). This is a great collection of Atari games including Night Driver, Street Racer, Video Olympics (Pong), Warlords (Atari and arcade versions!), Steeple Chase, Circus Atari (also found on the joystick one), Demons to Diamonds, Breakout, Super Breakout, Casino, and Canyon Bomber. Nice mix of driving, tennis, arcade shooters, and breakout style games (pretty much what you want from a paddle!).

There is a two-player edition available that makes Pong a better game. But the computer is not unbeatable, and there are several settings to all of the games that make them what they always were - simple to play classics. I've enjoyed every edition of the TV GAMES so far (Atari, Activision and Namco -- no, I don't have Spongebob or Blue's Clues). The nice thing is they are portable and load quickly. I like not having to unpack and fire up my video game console every time I want a quick diversion. Overall this is a great addition to my growing collection of retro games.

This toy is cheaply made and was not well designed. Parts do not fit snugly and tend to fall off. The support legs collapse under the slightest of pressure or downforce. My son is a big fan of Star Wars and yet even he became frustrated and quickly disinterested in this toy. Don't waste your money.

I remember seeing the power of the force version of this at Toysrus back in 96. I could never get it though. When they remade it for the Star Wars trilogy I was very excited. It was first on my Christmas list. When I pulled it out of the box Christmas morning and started to put it together, I suddenly realized this wasn't going be a cool toy.

Pros: The Falcon is really detailed and cool looking. It is more fun to display it some were then to play with it.

Cons: The hinges on the doors suck, the instructions for putting the decals on are very poorly written, you can't fit 2 guys in the cockpit, the ship is not to scale with the figures, you can't just pick it up and start flying around because the doors will fall off, and last, but not least, it cost fifty bucks.

I don't know. I thought this would be a cool and I'd be playing with it for hours, but I guess that not the case. You should have got more for your buck. You would think Hasbro would spend a bit more time on this. I am a big Star Wars fan, but I didn't find anything to special about this ship. Skip this one and save your money.

this is a must buy product for any starwars fan. it very well detaialed, has many features and is very good for both display and play.