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The Best Console Game for Early Childhood (3-6)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have tried a number of educational and not-so-educational games targeted at children and none compares to this one in simplicity. And I mean that in the best way possible.

For this age group (3-6), Simplicity Is Essential For Fun!

There are only two controls to master: 1) Movement via the Thumb Stick -or- Direction pad and 2) Action via any button.

ALL buttons function as the Action button. Unless your child hits start, then all other buttons will activate the Action. In most cases, this is simply Jumping, but the game includes a lot of other entertaining actions such as Stopping Swiper, sending Boots to go digging for Treasure, Catapulting over obstacles, etc. Whichever button your child prefers or can most easily reach with their small hands will work.

Journey to the Purple Planet plays just like a typical Dora episode - several episodes in fact because you advance to new adventures. You play as Dora & Boots, but all the familiar characters make appearances (eg, Backpack, Map, Isa, Swiper, etc.). If your child enjoys the show, then they will enjoy this game.

It provides some opportunity to explore, but is somewhat On Rails. That can be irritating in mature games, but for young ones it keeps them from getting lost or off track. Dora & Boots can roam around, but there are boundaries and there are also clearly marked paths to lead them toward their next goals.

Objectives are simple - find items, collect large glowing gems, etc. Children do not have to be absolutely perfect - being close to an objective is usually good enough. And Dora never loses - eg, she doesn't get stuck in the sand, simply blocked by it. The worst that happens is she might wander around a bit as your child figures out where the next collectible/objective is located.

Dora also gives Advice when your little player gets stuck or backtracks too far in the wrong direction. Every step of the way, there are spoken hints for how to deal with new functions. Nothing is written (other than the start & continue screens), so your child does not have to know how to read. When they need to continue, the game prompts them with a graphic to press the button.

The game Automatically Saves, so there is little concern that your child will accidentally undo their progress unless they somehow back all the way out to the main menu and go through several steps to delete their saved game.

Unlike the new Wii control scheme, older controllers are not necessarily intuitive nor easy to use for beginners. But this game makes it about as easy as it can get.

The graphics are nicely cell-shaded with a number of nice touches like fluttering butterflies and the like to make the backdrop seem lively.

There are other good console games for young ones, but this is the single best Early Childhood (3-5) title available for the console, especially if your child already has a fondness for Dora

The Best Console Game for Young Children (3-5)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have tried a number of educational and not-so-educational games targeted at children and none compares to this one in simplicity. And I mean that in the best way possible.

For this age group (3-6), Simplicity Is Essential For Fun!

There are only two controls to master: 1) Movement via the Thumb Stick -or- Direction pad and 2) Action via any button.

ALL buttons function as the Action button. Unless your child hits start, then all other buttons will activate the Action. In most cases, this is simply Jumping, but the game includes a lot of other entertaining actions such as Stopping Swiper, sending Boots to go digging for Treasure, Catapulting over obstacles, etc. Whichever button your child prefers or can most easily reach with their small hands will work.

Journey to the Purple Planet plays just like a typical Dora episode - several episodes in fact because you advance to new adventures. You play as Dora & Boots, but all the familiar characters make appearances (eg, Backpack, Map, Isa, Swiper, etc.). If your child enjoys the show, then they will enjoy this game.

It provides some opportunity to explore, but is somewhat On Rails. That can be irritating in mature games, but for young ones it keeps them from getting lost or off track. Dora & Boots can roam around, but there are boundaries and there are also clearly marked paths to lead them toward their next goals.

Objectives are simple - find items, collect large glowing gems, etc. Children do not have to be absolutely perfect - being close to an objective is usually good enough. And Dora never loses - eg, she doesn't get stuck in the sand, simply blocked by it. The worst that happens is she might wander around a bit as your child figures out where the next collectible/objective is located.

Dora also gives Advice when your little player gets stuck or backtracks too far in the wrong direction. Every step of the way, there are spoken hints for how to deal with new functions. Nothing is written (other than the start & continue screens), so your child does not have to know how to read. When they need to continue, the game prompts them with a graphic to press the button.

The game Automatically Saves, so there is little concern that your child will accidentally undo their progress unless they somehow back all the way out to the main menu and go through several steps to delete their saved game.

Unlike the new Wii control scheme, older controllers are not necessarily intuitive nor easy to use for beginners. But this game makes it about as easy as it can get.

The graphics are nicely cell-shaded with a number of nice touches like fluttering butterflies and the like to make the backdrop seem lively.

There are other good console games for young ones, but this is the single best Early Childhood (3-5) title available for the console, especially if your child already has a fondness for Dora.

Excellent for Kids !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Your kids won't have to worry about losing, there is no way that can happen. It's fun and builds confidence in kids.

Dora and Boots are NASA's greatest agents

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

In a little known about scientific survey of The Purple Planet Dora and Boots found a new substance the could replace the food additive Red#5 and produce none of the harmful side effects. In fact you could become a super hero.

Good for little kids

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My husband bought this for my 3 year old. He thought it would be good for him to be able to play the GameCube too. He likes it, but can't always get where he wants to go, though I must admit, he caught on pretty quick. He likes to have help sometimes b/c he gets frustrated. For those who like Dora, they will like this game. MY 3 year old prefers his Pooh Bear game b/c it's geared a little more towards pre-schooler's. He does play this game too. Maybe he'll do a little better when he's four.

Dora is fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for my 3 yr old and even though the controller is what she has difficulty with she loves this game. It's really easy and fun! She just hasn't figured out how to use the controller properly! But the game saves after every mission completed which is great. They don't have to keep restarting things. She likes that. It's a great preschooler video game!

Dora game is great for preschoolers

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Game has very good graphics and my 4 year old loves to play without getting frustrated. Would recommend this game for 4-6 year old age group.

Age Appropriate

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for my son (4 years old). He loves Dora and he loves playing video games. All I had to do was turn this on for him and he did everything else!

This game is very age appropriate. As Dora is walking around the different planets, there are choices for the child to make. Either walk along the paths or find crystals and other hidden goodies. This makes it interesting for the kid who's playing instead of just a boring walk here and there. But it's not too complex that you can get lost.

The game guides you where to go so the player always feels successful and accomplished. It requires some thinking and problems solving skills where you pick up items and have to figure out where to use them.

My son made it from Earth to the Purple Planet in several sessions which kept him entertained for a while. The saving feature is very nice so the kids can play for 15 to 20 minutes at a time without having to go back.

There should be more games like this for preschool age children! Anyone who loves Dora or playing video games will love this one. A must have for the holidays!

Great for young kids.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because it was the only game rated EC for our gamecube, the kids like Dora, I bought it mostly for my dausghter who is 3 but she just walks around and cant do anything else, but my son who is 4 loves it, he passed the game within one day and everyday day sense could pass it within a hour. He was so good at it. Very fun.

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is simple yet fun for the very young and beyond. There are next to no games for early childhood. My son was enjoying and learning with this game at three years old. He still likes to play it. I wish they made more games like this.

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