Parents' Guide to

JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island

By Christopher Healy, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Math, reading, and action in one colorful package.

Game Nintendo Wii 2009
JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island Game: Screenshot #1
  • JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island Game: Screenshot #2
  • JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 2 parent reviews

amylynr
amylynr Parent of 2, 5 and 8-year-old
August 24, 2010
age 5+

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.
underworld
underworld Parent of 5 and 7-year-old
December 27, 2009
age 8+

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.
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

In JUMPSTART: ESCAPE FROM ADVENTURE ISLAND, your dirigible-type airship crash lands on a whimsical, fantasy island, and you must play mini-games to earn sand dollars and buy enough helium tanks to get your zeppelin back up in the air. A few of the mini-games are mere dexterity challenges (rolling an egg into a nest, hopping onto platforms, and avoiding meanie creatures), but most are outwardly educational, based on math and reading curricula for five- to nine-year-olds. Players may need to ride a manta ray through gates marked with the right answers to math problems or roll in a giant hamster ball through banners marked with correctly-spelled words. Another mini game involves choosing clothes for a fashion show, where scores are based on how well the chosen outfit matches the requested criteria (such as \"striped cold-weather outfit\").

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

The educational value of JumpStart: Escape from Adventure Island is clear from the first few moments of the game. And the lessons are incorporated very nicely into action-based game formats. Beyond all the learning, though, the game is also fun. It has a colorful look and playful design that should be appealing to kids across the entire five-to-nine age spectrum. And smartly, there's a lot here that is not purely educational -- including the ability to build up a wardrobe and continually swap costumes, and a customizable treehouse -- which goes a long way toward making sure the game doesn't feel like a school assignment.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about which of the mini-games kids like best. Do they prefer the game levels that are more traditionally video-game-like? Or do they enjoy the ones that present them with learning-based challenges?

  • Do kids like to change the look of their avatar often? How important to them is it to unlock all the possible costume options? Do they want to make the avatar look like them?

Game Details

  • Platform: Nintendo Wii
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Knowledge Adventure
  • Release date: November 24, 2009
  • Genre: Educational
  • ESRB rating: E for Comic Mischief
  • Last updated: August 31, 2016

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