JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island (Wii)
common sense media says
Math, reading, and action in one colorful package.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this educational game makes its lessons not only fun, but enticing, by layering them into action-based, cartoon-inspired gameplay. Not all of the mini-games are purely curriculum-based -- some are more reminiscent of what you'd find in a mainstream, just-for-fun video game; but the inclusion of those un-school-like levels only serves to keep kids interested in the game as a whole. The educational games are geared at 5- to 9-year-olds.
Educational value:
Although styled as an adventure, the mini-games that make up the action are overtly educational. In order to succeed, kids need to practice dozens of math and grammar lessons -- addition, multiplication, fractions, telling time, parts of speech, rhymes, syllables, spelling, and much more.
Positive role models:
There aren't many characters in the game, but there's absolutely nothing objectionable about the ones that are in there. And the player's character is a hard-working, determined, smart kid.
Ease of play:
Each lesson-based mini game has three curriculum levels to choose from, and three game-playing skill levels to choose from on top of that. All those possible permutations make it easy for a child to tailor the game to match both their education and game-playing skill levels.
Violence & scariness:
The game's only villains are little hairball creatures called Punk Punks. In some of the mini games, players can jump on and flatten the Punk Punks or roll into them with a giant ball. Defeated Punk Punks disappear in a quick puff of smoke.
Language:
Not applicable.
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
More on JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island
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Most useful reviews by all members
amylynr
parent of and 3 , 6 , 9 year old
parent of and 3 , 6 , 9 year old
Not even close to as good as the computer games
I'm not sure what the problem is--my kids love Jumpstart, but they won't play this. Even my 8 year old, who's a wii-whiz, gets frustrated trying to use the controller on this game. Also, not having a multiplayer function is a big turn-off. My kids only like to play together and get bored by one-player games. I keep hoping they'll give this one another chance, but so far, not impressed.
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underworld
parent of 6 and 9 year old
parent of 6 and 9 year old
Gameplay hinders any educational benefit
If a game is designed below the standards of other video games, it simply won't keep your kid interested in it to benefit from it. Our girls (5 and 8) received several video games for the holidays and this game got about 5 minutes of attention before the awkward gameplay drove them to other gifts.
Video games need to engage kids quickly so they don't lose interest. This game starts with a poorly animated character speaking at length about the game. After you get past him, you wonder around the island in search of mini-games. There are obstacles which should be easily navigated with a small jump but simply stop the player from proceeding. The minigames I saw weren't that fun. One game had the player float around a cave trying to find words that rhyme with a given word. It isn't clearly stated what the goal of this game was but my girl racked up numerous matches with no reward. She just got bored with providing the same answer again and again.
I bought this game based upon this site's high review but I have to wonder if your reviewers spent the necessary time to assess whether the game would captivate its audience with its gameplay. I hope other parents take the time to validate these reviews for the benefit of us other parents who rely on reviews to make worthwhile purchases.
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