Chop Suey
Chop Suey’s Magical World
A Review of Chop Suey
Tina Velgos
The magical fantasy world of two little girls, Lily and June Bugg,comes to life in Chop Suey, a creative multimedia masterpiece developed byMagnet Interactive Studio. This hip interactive storybook provides arefreshing look at the curiosity and imagination of kids of all ages. Youwon’t find another CD-ROM like it!
Although Chop Suey was originally developed to inspire girls ages 7 – 12, Ifell in love with the primitive illustrations, much of it similar to folkart and artwork created by kids. Four-year-old Timmy loved exploring thefictitious town of Cortland, Ohio by clicking at random on a map ofbuildings, houses and winding roads. The audio mix accurately portrayedthe sounds of a small town, complete with barking dogs, lawnmowers, birds,cars, and people.
We spent a day with Lily and June Bugg, who ate too much chop suey forlunch at the Ping Ping Palace. A wonderful rendition of Chop Sticks playsin the background as kids explore a virtual plate of (what else?) chopsuey. There are no interactive buttons to click. Instead, kids use theirmouse to move the cursor and explore every detail on the screen. When thecursor turns into a moon, there is nothing to click. A pointing finger,however, leads kids to another interactive activity.
There’s something very mystical about listening to Lily and June Bugg asthey dream about the chubby gray clouds in the sky. The clouds change intoteapots, and crazy tennis shoes and finally, the girls’ favorite aunt,Vera. Lily and June Bugg talk about Aunt Vera as “icky bugs” bite theirarms while they lie on the hill, their feet pointed towards the azureskies.
Miss Vera’s life is a series of magical stories. By using the map of thetown, you can join Lily and June as they explore blonde Aunt Vera’swonderful bedroom. An interactive closet of clothes is yours for theclicking. Feel free to open Vera’s drawers, try on hats and dresses, eachhas a fun-filled story behind it. From Vera’s shoes to her “lipstickylips”, you can sense the girls’ excitement as they explore Vera’s past lifeas a Rockette, in the days of a “billion winking shining blinking lights ofBroadway.”
The interactive clicking continues as you watch the girls pretend they areangels when they fly to New York City and explore stores with “diamonds asbig as Oreo cookies”. Pretty little melodies follow the girls as theyvisit Mud Pup, the black dog with a smart sense for fashion, while the kidshelp Mud Pup try on clothes by clicking clothes on a clothes line.
Don’t miss the Bingo Hall. Here, children can play free virtual bingocards, clicking and marking their numbers as the bingo numbers are called.Pipe organ music plays in the background, capturing the fun and wackyantics of our bingo-playing friends.
My favorite adventure involved a red-haired fortune teller named MadameMystery. You may ask Madame Mystery to predict your future by typing in ayes or no question for Madame and clicking a card for her prophetic answer.The girls wondered if Madame Mystery read their diary. So did I !!!
Singing cupcakes with funny faces, yodelling pickles, a radio you can tunein different stations, and Vera’s son, Dooner, are all one-of-a-kindcreations. Be careful when you enter Dooner’s room. This weird guy, whomthe girls describe as “tall and has the face of a movie star”, lives withgraffiti on the wall, magazines and records scattered on the floor. Hissocks come to life as you bravely click his dresser drawer. He’s a poetand he doesn’t know it as he sings about girls named Pitapat. You and yourkids will enjoy reading Dooner’s diary, as you turn the pages with themouse. Shhhhh…don’t tell Dooner, though.
Take a trip to the carnival with Lily and June and they’ll show you theClown Dunking Booth, Games of Luck and the Big Top with Queen Kong and theMutant Creatures Side Show. Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and besure to click your virtual camera to capture the amazing circus acts. It’stime to go home when Lily steps in a big brown pile by the elephant’s cage,though!!
Everyone loves a picnic, especially that crazy Aunt Vera and her Elvis-likeboyfriend named Ned. Wind chimes play sweet songs as you innocently clickon a cloud overhead that spells rain for Vera and Ned. Their puffyhairstyles quickly turn limp as the rainstorm drenches their do’s. But,voila, the cloud disappears and their puffy styles are back.
You might check out Chop Suey’s Hyperzine where you’ll find sillygames to download and more stories and adventures. I enjoyed Horrorscopes,where you step into Paprika’s virtual tent for a personalized glimpse intoyour future. Type in your name, birth month and favorite color and Paprikawill tell your fortune!
Hats off to software developers ,Theresa Duncan and Monica Gesue, forproviding a software title that will truly inspire girls AND boys to bemore creative and aware of the music and colors that surround their lives.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
Chop Suey |
| Company: |
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment |
$34.98
System Requirements:
Windows:
IBM PC or compatible,
486SX CPU (486DX or better recommended),
8 MB RAM or greater, Windows 3.1 or later,
QuickTime for WIN (supplied),
13″ color monitor/8 bit (16 bit recommended),
Double speed CD-ROM drive,
Soundblaster or compatible audio card
and Microsoft compatible mouse.
Macintosh:
Apple Macintosh 68030 or better, System 7.0 or later,
4 MB RAM, 8 MB RAM recommended,
13″ or larger monitor, 256 colors at 640 x 480 resolution or higher,
Double-speed or faster CD-ROM drive,
External powered speakers recommended,
Virtual Memory disabled, unless on Power Mac,
QuickTime 2.0, Apple Multimedia Tuner,
Sound Manager 3.0,
and QuickTime PowerPlug 2.0, if using Power Mac.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 5
Sound 5
Overall Score:
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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