Review: "Dora the Explorer" TV Games
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ESRB Rating: E Platform: Release Date: 02/28/2006 Genre: Video Games
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that these games offer no objectionable
content and encourage a variety of skills, such as logic,
hand-eye coordination, and cooperation. The games can also help
teach kids some of the basic mechanics of video games, such as
how to jump over objects and how to jump up onto others. The
graphics are grainy and the games don't have much depth, but
for an additional $10, parents can add more content to this
self-contained system.
Families can talk about why Swiper the Fox is always causing Dora trouble. They can also talk about taking turns.
Common Sense Media Review
Parents can now provide their kids with "Dora the Explorer"
video games without having to buy a separate gaming system.
With "Dora the Explorer" TV Games from Jakks Pacific, parents simply plug the Dora controller into their TV or VCR, and five different games appear on the television.
This plug-and-play game is different from others because it is expandable. Parents can introduce new content by buying the inexpensive Dora "GameKey."
The games are housed in a special Dora controller, featuring the faces of Dora and Boots. The joystick looks like the character of The Map, and the two action buttons are star characters. It runs on 4 AA batteries.
From the Game Select Menu, kids can play an electronic board game called "Race to Play Park," which incorporates four mini-games. Or they can select each mini-game separately. If kids want to play the "Race to Play Park," they can do so with up to three friends.
The theme of the electronic board game is a race to beat Swiper the Fox to the Play Park. Kids take turns moving over the board and, during each turn, they play a memory activity and one of the four mini-games.
In one mini-game, kids repair a bridge by matching geometric shapes. In another, they use logic to dig a tunnel around rock obstacles. The other two mini-games are side-scrollers that challenge hand-eye coordination.
The Dora GameKey, a cartridge that slips into the top of the controller, adds three more games: a simple soccer simulation, a penalty kick shootout, and an educational platformer. In the latter, as kids jump from platform to platform, they look for the numbers one to 20 in order and collect colored stars to match patterns.
While the graphics in these games are grainy and the controls are a little spongy, the price is right. For $19.99, kids get five fun Dora games, two of which are educational. And by adding the Dora GameKey for $9.99, kids can unlock exciting additional content. These games are a good way to introduce young children to the strategies found in video games.
This is an inexpensive alternative to Leapster or VSmile.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
