Music Reviews

As a teacher, we have heard over the past few years how classical music helps stimulate the brain. My son recently turned 2 and we bought this for him. Yes occasionally, he likes to stack the blocks, but he loves changing the order of the blocks to make various melodies. The bright colors are great for teaching colors. I will ask him where is the blue block...and so on. Each block also has 6 shapes. In time I am sure he will learn his shapes from this toy as well. He is already calling the circle a "ball" and pointing to the other shapes asking, "That?" To which I will name the shape. Daddy also loves this toy. They will sit together making different sounds and melodies. They also like that they can hear a beat when the put the block in and try to match the melodies together before they play the whole line of blocks. I liked this so much; I ordered 2 more for our 2-year-old and 3-year-old nieces!!

My daughter had the original Music Blocks toy and enjoyed playing with it, although the toy didn't get the attention of some other toys. There are only so many times that one can hear the same 10-15 seconds of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or Bippity-Boppity-Boo before it gets very old.

It seems to me you could expose your child to classical (or another genre of) music with a well-chosen CD; and you could allow him/her more musical freedom by buying them a child's set of percussion instruments. The combination (CD/instruments) would be cheaper than the Music Blocks toy. My daughter still plays with her percussion instruments -- they're not as pleasant for adults, perhaps, but she has a LOT of fun.

Also, not to be pedantic, but I don't see how arranging the five blocks can lead to "over a million" compositions. There are 5!=120 ways to arrange the 5 colored blocks into the 5 holes, and -- unless I'm mistaken -- only 6 ways to arrange each block.

This leads to 5! * 6^5 = 120 * 7776 = 933,120 ways.

Our 2 year old received this for Christmas and he loves it. Actually my husband and I get a kick out of it too. You can also teach colors and shapes just using the blocks. Composing your own music is lots of fun. We've not had any problems with this toy not being durable. I am now shopping for more cartridges...

This game is sooooooooooooooo awsome! This game turns Harry's world colerfull and exciting. So many different challenges it will keep you buisy for a very long time. This game is perfect for any Harry Potter fan out there. If you are a fan put it in your collection. Most of the words are the same from the book and the movie in almost the same places too. This is a must have game!

I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE PLAYED A GAME LIKE THIS AND IT DESERVES A 5 STAR

this game is really fun if you lovew hary potter. I love it becuase there is more to explore and more to do and you can do the tasks again and keep trying until you get it all right. I love it and its a great game is is defintely worth the price. I haven't beaten it yet but i know i have spent quite a bit of time on it i really love it. Only get it if you are a harry potter fan.

Well I bought this game based on amazon users reviews. i was a little worried but I started and IT WAS AWSOME. The Graphics are great. OYEA and it has full voiceovers on the cutscens. Now the Bad. The only bad thing is the health. Unless you are using Slo-Mo (Bullet Time) You will usually lose about 1/6 of your health. Last the game is GORy WHICH IS AWSOME IF YOU ARE 12 or older but little ones should not play this game Overall 9 out of 10

So, my GBA colletion is running short and so is my time to get a new game before my vaction. My brother who is a big time Max Payne fan suggested that I should preview it. I played it, I loved it, I bought it, end of story. Now that i'm done telling you my life story about buying this game time to tell you how good it is. The graphics aren't Ninga Gaiden here (in fact Mario probley has better) but it makes an easy game challeging. Despite that we have crapy graphics this game is the best PS2(XBOX) to GBA transfer. The control pad is a little bit of challenge so if your really not going for a car game you might have better luck with a GC GBA player. Gameplay is fun and easy giving beginers an easy vicory. However this game is very violate so little kids STAY AWAY. Over all it's grrrrrrrreeat

Rockstar quietly snuck onto the Game Boy Advance scene last year with an absolutely fantastic handheld rendition of its Duke Nukem franchise, aptly titled Duke Nukem Advance. This year, the company's struck gold again with a GBA version of the original PC and console design, Max Payne. Though the game's in a brand new viewpoint with gameplay that's been simplified to work with the portable system's limitations, the Game Boy Advance version of Max Payne is an excellent title that brings a lot of new style gameplay (along with buckets of blood, gore, and adult situations) to the handheld. The adventure is a bit on the short side, but it's one hell of a ride from start to finish.
The Game Boy Advance market isn't entirely free of Mature rated games, but Max Payne definitely joins an extremely small club with its M rating slapped on the box. Rockstar obviously isn't afraid to push the content well within that rating, as Max Payne features as much carnage as a Paul Verhoven action flick. The situations aren't exactly kid-friendly, either: a cop, with a murdered wife and daughter, goes solo up against drug traffickers, mob bosses, and cult leaders in twelve chapters of guns a-blazin'. Max Payne is essentially an action shooter with the basics of an adventure game -- hitting triggers or switches to open doors -- thrown in. The hook of the game design is its implementation of what's called "Bullet Time," an effect stolen from the film version of The Matrix; players can...no, scratch that, must utilize Max Payne's bullet time ability to slow down the passage of time. One tap of the R trigger sends time on a slowdown, and puts Max in a superhuman dive in the direction he's facing. This gives players the ability to avoid enemy bullets, as well as lock in on these bad guys to take 'em out with a few blasts from the gun. The Bullet Time meter is limited, but as long as your aim is true and bad guys get shot, it'll replenish. But successfully blasting through an area without Bullet Time enabled is nearly impossible, so wasting what little Bullet Time you have is definitely not a good thing. Mobius Entertainment, the UK development studio behind lower-key GBA titles such as Army Men: Turf Wars and Drome Racers, the group behind bringing the Remedy-created action series to the Game Boy Advance. Max Payne, and the team has pulled off an outstanding job rebuilding, from scratch, all of the elements that made the PC and console versions so damn fun to play. Mobius already had an existing pile of tools and technology it created for the long-in-the-can A Sound of Thunder title the team developed for BAM, and the studio tweaked this engine to more mimic the style of game that Max Payne is. The engine, and its ability to manipulate 3D characters, is what makes Bullet Time possible on the Game Boy Advance. The effect is incredibly believable since Max and his enemies are real-time 3D objects, which gives the developers freedom in their animations. These characters fly around the screen with smooth grace and motion, flailing arms and legs when they hit the ground; the animations only enhanced further when the Bullet Time kicks in. But the impact isn't just limited to character motions. The engine also allows for destructible and interactive objects; crates, bottles, and water coolers explode; hotel beds vibrate. And walls can be shot as well, leaving holes pecked in the surface, or blood caked up there if an enemy gets too close to the "action." All of these effects are also slowed down when Bullet Time is initiated, making the effect even more believable...and awesome to watch on the GBA screen. Max Payne is split into three parts of multiple chapters, but it's essentially twelve missions long. The challenge comes from completing a chapter without losing all of your lives; Max only gets four chances in a level, but losing a life doesn't set players back very far. Lose all the lives, though, and you'll have to restart that chapter from the beginning, regardless of how deep you were. Throughout these levels you'll find painkillers tucked away in crates or medicine cabinets, items that replenish health by hitting the Select button. There are also a ton of different weapons, from clubs and grenades, to shotguns and double-fisted automatics...as well as plenty of ammunition to fill 'em. But with only 12 missions, players can finish the adventure in just about four hours. That isn't exactly a long time, and this was the huge downside to the PC and console games as well. The other downside is in the game's newer isometric perspective: since the "camera" can only show so much of the area, there are many times within Max Payne where players will blindly blast off-screen enemies to get rid of them. It's kind of unfair to have enemies attack so far beyond the borders of the LCD screen, and it's just a little awkward to be able to nail them without being able to see them. But even with the short length and off-screen action issues, Max Payne is a surprisingly awesome conversion that almost came out of nowhere. The Game Boy Advance isn't exactly a powerhouse of a gaming system, but Mobius' versatile technology allows for as much Max Payne gameplay as the isometric perspective allows. Rockstar's shooting two for two on the Game Boy Advance, with their Hat Trick, Grand Theft Auto on the way...and after experiencing the outstanding handheld versions of Duke Nukem and Max Payne, we're extremely eager to hit the portable streets next year.

I got this for our daughter when she was 6 months...and she absolutely loved it and so did I. All she wanted to do was stand at it and play. The soft cube is perfect for learning to stand. She recognizes the rhymes now and gets excited whenever and wherever she hears them...I definitely recommend this toy starting at 6 mths, it is without a doubt worth the money. You will not have any regrets!

What a great toy! I gave this to my daughter when she turned 1. She loves it.. all she needs to do is bang on the cube and whatever side is up, that song will play. Each side of the cube is interactive and so much fun! This toy even has a memory! It remembers which stanza of the song it left off at the last time the cube was used! Now my daughter is 14 months and the fun hasn't stopped. We have tons and tons of toys, but I always have this one available for her. Fun, educational and durable! My 4 1/2 yr old son is a bit hard on the cube, but it still keeps working perfectly. My fave toy and I have told all my friends!

My daughter received this for her first b-day. She loves it. Sturdy enough for her to climb on it and when she wants to see another side she pushes it over. Loves the interaction and the songs to go along with it.

This is a pretty good game. But when i first played this game i thought it was kind of boring, but as i plyed it more and more i began to like it.
It is a cool game but i would like it if they had made the explosions a little...better.
since i've already beat the game I can't wait to by Ace Combat 3.

I've played Ace Combat 1-4 and I still think that this one is the best that I have played. Many of the missions are pretty easy but thats just me. The games graphics are better than Air combat but are about the same as Ace Combat 3. The selection of planes is pretty good but Namco could have done a better job but its still a great game. Anyone that likes flight simulations should buy this game ASAP.

I thought Air Combat was good....Ace Combat 2 far exceeded my expectations. Ace Combat 2 is the next best thing to being there. Since I have beeten this game, I can't wait to get Ace Combat 3.

I reviewed this game awhile back after I had played it for a short time and had not finished working my way through the tutorials. Now that I have had a chance to play the game several times I want to change my review and the star rating.

This is, superfically, the old Avalon Hill board game concept. I liked that concept a lot. With a board game, if something is going on that is just plain nuts the players just ignore it and go on with the game. A computer prevents that. So when crazy things start happening you just can't stop it.

The game is very complex. So complex that it is ponderous to play. Common sense just isn't part of the process. At some very fundamental level I don't understand this game. And I have played everything from Tactics II through France 1940 plus a lot of electronic computer games. I have read the manual (80+ pages) and I have played through the tutorials. But when playing the game incomprehensible things go wrong. My units run out of supply, even when they are in the supply net. The Soviet side has little or no air support while the Germans are just busting with it. How is this possible in 1944?

My units lose combat value rather quickly and fast manuver is just out of the question. I have noticed that even surrounded German units fight better than my unit (when I play the Soviet side).

So... something is wrong with my game play. At this point I am about to give up. I have spent so many hours now just trying to master the basics of the game. I don't think it is worth it to keep going. After all, this shouldn't be like taking a college course in a subject you hate.

So the game is hard? So what? That alone would not lower my scoring to two stars. It is the game itself. It moves so slow. And as the commander you must constantly review the supply situation etc for each and every unit on each and every turn. If there were 20 units that wouldn't be so bad, but when you have to review hundreds of units the burden is amazing. That, along with a lot of other similar problems, sucks all the fun right out of the game.

I think the programmers need to put in a level of subordinate command that would handle at least some of these details. It could toggle off and on just in case someone really wanted to do all of the supply detail and whatnot themselves for every unit. Another level of subordinate command might have some units move on their own or at least alert you that they had possible movements available. Reinforcements fall into that catagory. It is easy to forget to scan the supply centers and see if reinforcements are sitting there read to be moved. And that can be critical.

Another really crummy idea was to make the artillery unmoveable without some kind of special circumstance. All artillery units in the real world have, built in, movement equipment or horses and most artillery can move and shoot very quickly. That is one reasons it was (and is) so effective. The set up time was minimal. In this game you can only move by clicking on extended move. Strange.

I think they need to build in to every game a "starter" kind of game. Something with very simple rules to introduce the game player to the basics without a lot of fluff.

The manual itself explain the rules but it doesn't take enough time telling us WHY the rules were written in such a way. Trying to remember the rule in isolation is almost impossible. I remember a rule because it make sense in context. These rules have to be remembered out of context. Very hard.

So, I still think this is an Ok game but I will probably not be playing it very often if at all. The slow moving, complex and non-intutive nature of the game play simply means the game isn't any fun.

"Korsun Pocket" is not a microwavable lunch product, but an excellent operational level wargame backed by an impressive AI. You also get a bonus, "The Ardennes Offensive", which was an earlier game but revamped and joined with a modern AI and upgraded game system.

The scenarios covered by Korsun Pocket cover various phases of the desperate battle fought in early 1944 as the German Army was forced out of the Dnepr region, and the Soviets successfully trapped two German army corps in a "mini Stalingrad" bubble. As the Germans, you assemble and thrust armored divisions to rescue the trapped army. As the Russians, you have to both reduce the pocket before the rescuers arrive, and fend off the massed attacks. Both sides have to contend with interdiction, supply, and sporadic reinforcements. (In the real battle, a few thousand German troops made it out but many were slaughtered in the final breakout.)

Korsun is a vast improvement in AI over prior boardgame-syle wargames. It feints, carefully assembles striking forces before attacking, and conserves resources. It does not merely react to local battles or movements - it is (or appears to be) using a "whole board" approach, as in Go.

It is easier to assess unit strengths in Korsun and predict combat outcomes. The computer actually roles dice. The units' rating is a combined quanta of strength, proficiency and leadership, and does not appear to be based on counting rifles or AFV. On the complexity side (like a good game, the game mechanics are like an onion, yielding as much complexity as preferred), a player who ignores supply, transport and bridges is asking for trouble. Unit reinforcement is handled manually, and choosing which units to reinforce is quite a decision.

The differences in design are manifested in the mechanics of gameplay. In earlier wargames, "general offensives" by nearly every viable unit on the board were common. In "Korsun", this is suicide, since once units begin to suffer casualties, they tend to stay understrength. Casualties are easy to track and matter a lot in an immediate drop in unit strength. Attacks must be selective and balance armor, infantry and available artillery support. Unit integrity matters. Supply, artillery and most engineer units have virtually no defensive capabilities, so if they fall victim to rampaging armor, you're screwed.

I agree with one negative reviewer that this IS a hard game (although the "Ardennes" remake is easier.) I haven't found the grail yet, and that is how it should be, since the replayability is important for a $40 game, isn't it? I would recommend, however, that Matrix include an easier beginners scenario, especially for people who haven't been exposed to the Norm Koger's "Operational Art of War" games or similar simulations.

Other recommended wargames: The "Combat Mission" series (squad level), and the Koger "Operational Art" games for machines not running XP.

Excellent turn-based, hex-based war game. Very easy to learn and understand, but hard to master. Because the mechanics are so simple (for example, artillery simply 'shifts' the odds) you can really focus on your strategy. It seems like I've played every game of this type going back to Apple II days, and this is the best.

We have three of the Scooby Doo Case File Games.
My four year old loves these games. He will play it for a long time. There is problem solving and mazes and other activities in each game.

My problem with this game (and the other Scooby Games) is that there is no variability. Once your child solves the game and plays it again, the puzzles are essentially the same. The clues might change and the villian might be different, but the puzzles are the same and the clues are in the same places.

This is not a problem for my kids though. They both enjoy the game and play it for many hours.

Enjoy.

I would rate this a middle of the road four or at the very least a high three.

First the positive- the scooby gang are in a museum and a green glowing bug man has messed up the displays. They have to put the displays back together in order to earn clues. The clues point to a villian. Each of the 'games' or displays involves a different part of the brain- in one scooby has to jump on a conveyer belt to earn scooby snacks and collect bones, another is a puzzle, another is a matching game and so on. There are three different levels so you can have it fairly easy to fairly difficult. My five year old was able to play the easy with no help and the medium level with only a little bit of help.

The Negatives- The games are the same. The villians change but the games are the same- you are always doing a puzzle in the dinosaur room and it's always the same puzzle. The placement of the boxes in the puzzle might change but the idea is the same. I would have also liked to have seen the ability to change the levels of the puzzle as individual games, not the whole game.

However, it's a fun game.
I would also suggest the Freddy Fish games if your child likes to solve mysteries.

Enjoy.

If any of you have expierienced past Scooby Doo games of this style, then you will understand this. In comparison, the voice acting in this is sub-par. The vocal animations are so generic that every word they speak looks just like the last. The load times between screens is a lot longer in this one than in past games. However, the puzzles are clever, and the background animations and layouts are very colorful and creative. Dropping you in many foreign locales. A good representation, and learning tool, of different cultures. My 5 year old enjoys this. But, myself, as a Scooby Doo fan, did not think that much of it. It was a bit shorter than previous games as well. Good game. Just not great. Hope the next volume shows more promise.

It is not a pin ball simulator, more a strange and fairly original game with a ball and flippers. I never enjoyed it, however.

The best PC pinball game I've ever played. You gotta try this.

There's no other word's for this game except excellent!!
Electronic Arts, Keep up the good work and i know others and myself are waiting for Forgotten Island II.Also 5 stars are not near enough its a 10.

Allen

This game is all around pretty fun, it is fairly short so I'd say don't get it during the summer if you're going to play it nonstop. To beat the entire storyline and a couple side levels took me only ten hours, but there are still a lot of side things I can do.
If you've played the first one, there are a lot more cards than it, and some have been changed.
They changed it so getting cards back costs more and the cards are harder to find, and healing isn't nearly as easy as it is in the first game.

All in all I think you should get this game if you liked the first one and don't play nonstop.
Zelda is better, but this game's fun.

This game is great for people who love Zelda and other RPGS. It is a unique game that has fixed many of the problems and fustrations that occurred during the first game. There are many new cards and 2 new types that change the fighting style dramaticly. This game is obviously an improvment on the first game which was great to begin with. I think this is a game to buy or at least rent first.

The original Lost Kingdoms was good. But THIS is better. The graphics are better, the sound is better, and the controls are much better. It has MUCH better camera angles than the first game, and the battle system is much better. You can use a card wherever you want now, not just in battle. And there's a voiceover. Sometimes the voiceover sounds a little cheesy, but it's usually pretty good. The music is pretty good, too. It fits the game really well. The only bad thing is that it's too short! I beat it in around ten hours! There are quite a few sidequests that I didn't finish yet, though. But still...TEN HOURS?!? By the end, I was thinking, "C'mon, gimme more!" A wonderful game like this shouldn't be so short. Well, overall, I'd give this game an A-. It's a great game... at least rent it, alright?

I was really excited when this game was first advertised. But was mad when it only for PS2. Well it cam to Xbox! I rented the game b/c it looked a little strong. IT IS! This is game that your mother warned you about. Blood, gore, curseing its all here. This game is not for everyone! Know that! But for those with stomach for Rockstar's "Manhunt" will get a pretty good game. You are James Earl Cash, a "dead man" stuck in a wasteland called Carcer City whare you are hunted by 5 gangs each with a differnt look as well as diffent ways of hnting and killing you. There is not as much stratagy in the game as I had hoped. It's pretty easy to hide. The game was not as scary as I anticipated ethier. But some kill sceens are intense. The game gets a tad borning after a while. It's just the same thing. Salking and killing. This is a game you should deffinately rent. Rockstar is still the best at putting out origenal, crowd pleasing titles.

Manhunt is the kind of game that prides itself on atmosphere and gratutious violence. The makers of this game obviously have Seven in their DVD collections. The grit and grime of the urban landscape is in full effect, obviously their intent was to make this city seem like hell. THey succeeded. The voiceovers are ok, except for Brian Cox who is amazingly good as Starkweather. This game is one in which you can gather around the friends, break out the machete and show a brutal slaying to "oooooh's" and "aaaaaah's." My list of complaints: No unlimited saving, the shootout parts of this game are horrendously frustrating, and I just think the checkpoint system should be killed entirely from games. Its ok for a game to be hard, just not so hard that you break stuff. Anyway, if you want an atmospheric game that really just disturbs the hell out of you. You got it.

Overall, I found "Manhunt" to be a pretty enjoyable stealth game. It has very simple and reliable mechanics, and it's easy to pick up and play. Thus, it manages to be somewhat fun by avoiding a lot of the unsatisfying trial-and-error that accompanies most stealth games (like "Splinter Cell"). The game also throws in some token shooting sequences which aren't as well fleshed out, but also end up being kind of enjoyable as a change of pace, if nothing else.

Manhunt is a great setting for a stealth game. You are a death row inmate, being hunted on a great big movie set by gangters, lunatics, and other scum of the earth. All the while, a sick perverted director talks into your ear and eggs you on. He is constantly badgering you to kill, kill, kill. And when you do, it's not a pretty sight. The game is dripping with atmosphere. This is the most brilliantly atmospheric stealth game that I have played since System Shock 2. It's not really scary so much as disturbing. Especially one chapter that takes place in an old mental institution.

There's basically nothing extraordinary here as far as game mechanics goes. Manhunt has a simple formula that borrows heavily from other stealth games. You hide in shadows, and guards have three stages of alertness: clueless, suspicious, and fully aware. The behavior of the guards is pretty predictable, and the stealth routine is easy to learn. Everything works well here because of the setting. The hunters make for some really good fodder. Generally, they are lazy or just screwed up, which explains why they give up looking for you so soon after you alert them.

The visuals for the game are not spectacular or cutting edge, but they get the job done. What the game lacks in high-tech eye candy, it makes up for by throwing a large variety of environments and scenery at you. All of it fits in well with the dark and disturbing theme of the game. Still, the areas could have used more detail.

Where this game really excels is in the sound category. Sound is crucial for a stealth game, and here it is perfect. The music is dynamic. It is quiet when you are hidden, and it picks up when you step out of the shadows. When somebody spots you, it picks up in intensity again. The voice acting is top-notch, and there are tons and tons of great sound bites filled up with it. Some of them are disturbing, while others are just funny, like the radio stations in the "Grand Theft Auto" games. "Manhunt" shows the same attention to detail in the sound department that Rockstar's other games have shown. The guy who really steals the show is the voice actor for the main villain. The raving mad, wealthy genius, Starkweather is one of the best villains to show up in video gaming in a long, long time.

The biggest fault with this game as that it still gets repetitive about halfway through, despite attempts to give you different goals every level. You find yourself repeating the same few actions over and over - bang on wall, hide in shadows, wait for guard to pass by, sneak up on guard, kill guard, repeat. A few the levels are too loaded with enemies to use stealth, and end up being incredibly frustrating. The game also has essentially zero replay value, because of its linear nature.

"Manhunt" is a really good game. The excessive gore and violence enhance the experience, but they aren't the game's only features. Don't be put off by reviews saying that the game has nothing besides gore imagery. There is a good game here. If you like stealth-action games, or if you like Rockstar's other games, then you will like "Manhunt".