"..5..4..3..2..1....Huh !!!"
A Review of Robot Countdown
Rich Cunningham
Growing up in a small town, I received a very basic education. No, I did not attend a one room school house, but the covered area in the playground was the foundation and roof of the previous school (and, yes, it WAS a one room school). One of the benefits I feel I received was an emphasis on the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It gave me a very solid foundation to build on for my future learning, and I still reap the rewards today.
This all came back to me when I was reviewing the program that is the subject of this review, Robot Countdown. This game is a product of Sequoia International's Red Brick Productions edutainment series, and is one of their first titles to be released. It is a counting program that helps children learn to count from 1 to 10. It is targeted at the kindergarten to first grade age group, and in my opinion, it could be used in a preschool environment with no little or no problem. It is a very focused program, in that it concentrates on teaching the numbers and how to count them.
The game starts with a space ship crashing onto Planet X when it runs out of gas. They are stranded on this planet, and must wait for rescue. Fortunately their Emergency Mayday Message was received on the mother planet Xygoid. A search and rescue team is sent to find the missing 10 robots. That is the background for this game.
The game is divided into 3 modules. These modules are the Count module, the Game module, and the Sing-a-long module. In the Count module, the player clicks on an on-screen number, and is prompted to count with the program. This portion teaches number recognition. There are also hidden animations are that activated by clicking on parts of the robots, or on the background. In the Game module, robots are shown on the screen and the player must count them. Each time a group is counted, a piece necessary to repair the spaceship is given. After all the parts are acquired, the spaceship can go home. The Sing-a-long module is provided as a karaoke-type-of-activity that is for fun only. It is fun to sit and sing with your little one as the cartoon unfolds and the song is completed.
This is a very simple, but very focused program, as I said before. It teaches the simple concepts of number recognition, and then how to those numbers. In other words, a very basic educational activity. These are the type of activities that I feel I benefited from as I was growing up (of course, there weren't any computers in my school, but we did have electricity). This program also provides a solid foundation for a little one to build on. Once mastering the ability to count to ten, it is possible to move on to more advanced activities such as adding and subtracting. These are the types of programs that are currently under development by Sequoia International. This program would be a nice addition to a class room library for use by children, and at a suggested list price of only $7.00, it is a very good monetary value as well.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
Robot Countdown |
| Company: |
Sequoia International Inc.
|
| Cost: |
$7.00 |
System Requirements:
IBM: 486 or higher, 4mb ram (8mb recommended), Windows 3.1 or higher with Dos 3.3 or higher or Windows 95, SVGA Display (256 colors, 640x480), Sound Blaster-compatible sound card, 2X CD ROM, mouse
Macintosh: not available
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 2
Graphics 3
Sound 3
Overall Score:
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