Puzzle Reviews

When I placed the order, I was so excited to find my title that I did not see an ad as large as the one that is currently on this page, therefore, I missed the fine print to see that The Next Tetris not ME and/or XP compatible. Dissappointed! Cannot play!

This is massive Tetris, with sounds, variations, etc. A small draw back is that you have to have the CD in for the full effect of sounds and what not. Otherwise, it is great for tetris lovers.

Easily 5 stars - I would give it more if I could. Great graphics and great fun. I like it...

I bought this puzzle for my 2 year old daughter who LOVES puzzles. Especially the puzzles by Melissa and Doug that open and inside are hidden images or magnets.

The latch puzzle that we purchased was terrible. The sliding latch door lock simply fell out of the latch when you moved the puzzle - thus was to easy and way to loose. The most disapointing is the window latch and trunck latch. Both these two required adult hand strength to open! I had to hold the puzzle flat with one hand and grip the window latch with the other in order to manipulate it open. And I have very strong hands and it was hard for me (an adult) to open!! Perhaps it was JUST our puzzle. So I returned it. The other puzzles are sold in tight plastic wrap and so we weren't able to TRY another latch to see if it is not so HARD. So that is 3 defunct out of 6 latches that my daughter wasn't able to play with. That's half the toy that wasn't workable or child friendly - and NOT worth the money.

I bought this for my son was he was 14 months old, he is now a very inquistive 3 year old. Within a few weeks, he had mastered it (except for the one lock that is hard to turn). It is wonderful for practicing dexterity, and great for travel. The only thing is, once they master this puzzle, they can then open all the locks and latches in your home--which can definitely be a safety hazard!

Any toy that can attract the attention of a 1,2, AND 5 year old is a gem. All three of my kids saw this toy at the store and went BANANAS! There was only one available and they could not keep their little hands off of it.

It seems a little pricey for what it is, but scarcely have I encountered a toy that has this much of a draw. Especially, if you have spirited, very curious little children who like to mess with these sort of latches at home, anyway! I'm buying it for Christmas. A++++++++

I ordered it because it looked really fun, and looked like a great display item! It was a disaster!! for one thing it took me 22 hours NON STOP to finish it, and after it was all finished(i followed the the directions to the letter) it looked like a 300 year old barn!!!!!! Everything was sagging, the pieces wouldn't fit,(all of the pieces mostly looked alike, so if you screwed up once the whole puzzle is ruined)!! It was stressing, and NOT fun!! DON'T BUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got this for christmas, because im an avid lotr fan. I love rohan and gondor, so i thought the puzzle would be cool. Its now march and im not done with it because i have at least twelve missing pieces. If it had all the pieces when i got it maybe i could finish it............but this is just to warn you, high risk of missing pieces.

This was my first 3D puzzle and it was great. As a fan of LoTR I was especially motivated. It was equally challanging and motivating. It was a great experience. It took me some evenings to put it together.

And now I put all my LoRT figurines next to it.

Great puzzle and inspiration.

In earlier reviews, I see that one familiy had problems with this puzzle, but I think that must have been an anomaly. We have 10 or more "Melissa and Doug" puzzles, and I think that they are the best.

I have a daughter that has significant motor delays, and these puzzles are unique, attractive and challenging for her. They provide just the right level of difficulty that is not overwhelming and keeps her engaged. Our other daughter has spent a lot of time with them as well.

Clearly, all special ed classrooms should have this and other "Melissa & Doug" toys. I think that they are great for everyone else, too!!

MY GIRLS GOT THIS PUZZLE FOR CHRISTMAS. THE FIRST TIME THEY WERE PLAYING WITH IT I NOTICED SOMETHING IN MY DAUGHTERS MOUTH. THE ITEMS THAT WERE ON THE PUZZLE PIECE HAD CAME OFF WHICH HAD A SCREWS AND WASHERS THAT WERE HOLDING THEM ON. THREE OF THE FIVE PUZZLE PICECS HAD THE ITEM COME OFF AND WE HAD ABOUT TEN SCREWS AND TEN WASHERS. THEY ARE SUCH SMALL PIECES WHICH I WAS SO SHOCKED THAT THIS PUZZLE WAS EVEN MADE THIS WAY. I JUST WANTED ANY PARENT WHO HAS THIS PUZZLE OR IS THINKING OF BUYING IT TO BE CAREFUL AND MAKE SURE THE ITEMS ARE ATTACHED TEH CORRECT WAY. I HAVE CONTACTED CONSUMERS AFFAIRS TO LOOK INTO HAVING THIS PUZZLE RECALLED. HOPE THIS WILL HELP ANOTHER CHILD FROM BEING HURT.

My four year old son and two year old daughter both love the basic skills board. My son can do all of the activities, but especially likes the jacket. My daughter has more fun just taking the pieces out and putting them back in. Today she started playing with the laces on the shoes, so it was the perfect opportunity to teach her how to tie her own shoes. I highly recommend this toy for anyone with kids under five.

My sons wanted to do these puzzles over and over again when they were two years old. They exclaimed, "I did it!" with pride when they were able to put together the 4 piece puzzles all by themselves. They were also happy to put together the puzzles with 6 to 9 pieces with a little help from mom. The puzzles with more pieces offer an appropriate challenge to kids who are a little older. When we get this puzzle out, my four-year-old and my six-year-old each like to choose a couple of the trains to put together because they like the Thomas characters so much. The puzzles are made from cardboard, so they did wear down a bit after being played with oodles of times by such young children...but they have been a great value. These puzzles are a quick and fun activity to share with your kids.

My 3 and 4 year old sons love these puzzles!! There is a great variety of pieces and they really enjoy figuring out which piece goes to which puzzle. I highly recommend buying this if you children love Thomas. They will get hours of satisfaction for putting them together themselves.

I highly reccomend that you do not get this toy it gave my little boy 6 cardbord cuts. I give it a five in durable because this toy is a killer DONT BYE BELIEVE ME!!

After installing the Shanghai software on my iMac, I was unable to get the game to play. I have no trouble with the games software I buy from the stores, so I don't know why this one wouldn't work. The software in the stores is also cheaper. I was very unhappy with this product.

Obviously, this program is one of the best of the Activision Shanghai family variants available for the PC, being the most recent and offering the greatest variety of options over the other versions. Indeed, the WindStorm variant itself is so unique as to have breathed new life back into mahjongg tile games in general!
However, I find that when this program is installed into Windows XP Home or Professional on a system which has a typical built-in sound card...there seems to be no background music available! Sound effects are present as normal under Windows XP. Clicking on 'Sounds & Music' under the "Preferences" tab causes a lock-up which can be resolved using the Task Manager to end the program. It may be possible to run this program under Windows XP with full compatibility if a sound card is utilized which closely represents one which was an industry standard when the game first came out (late 90s). Using the same system, this program runs well under Windows 95/98/ME, with no problems observed with either background music or sound effects.

Shanghai has been one of my favorite games. My biggest pet peeves about this version is the lack of a tutorial and software incompatability. Buyer beware, this game has compatability issues with OS 9 and any system higher than 266 MHz. I played it on my older iMac (266MHz), and it ran great. But when I tried to play it on my brand new G4, the game froze repeatedly.
Dynasty II not only offers new games and layouts, but new tile sets as well. My favorites were the monster and the space sets. I tried out the different levels such as the Pandemonium, in which you play with three computerized players. That overwhelmed me, but some of you may enjoy this level immensely. Overall, I would recommend this game despite its touchiness.

I bought this game thinking it was what it claimed to be "Classic" Bubble Bobble. Buyer beware, this is not what the game turned out to be. The colors were very good, but the gameplay left a lot to be desired. The game was pathetically easy and offered up only about 60 levels. The bubbles were difficult to pop and way too easy to jump on. All in all, give me the classic on the NES any day over this poorly made modern version.

I really enjoyed the gameplay of the NES original version and this plays even better. Believe it or not the colors are more vibrant, and the backgrounds have more depth. Games like Super Mario Brothers Deluxe and Classic Bubble Bobble outshine their NES counterparts and pay homage to the classic versions of old.

If your looking at the box of this game and have seen these bright eyed characters before, you have. There in that Ultra Addictive Game Bust A Move. They started in this game way before bust a move/puzzle bobble was even made. Like its Brother game Bust a Move, its easy to play and dangerously addicting. You play as a little dinosaur named Bub and you blow out bubbles at your enemies on screen and you jump on them or use one of the many power ups to make them into a special fruit which ranks up your hi score. Like I said before, this is a very addicting game. There's is no violence which makes this game perfect for anyone. Hardcore fans: The game isnt played on one screen! It scrolls!! So When you fall, you can't tell where your going! There is no 2 Player so it kinda takes away from the replay value but it still maintains the gameplay that made it a classic. But regardless of its flaws, its a very fun game for all ages and being a Hardcore Gamer, I reccomend this to anyone who is familiar or unfamiliar to the series.

Like, an reviewer, I also rarely watch the tv sereis and yet I know that Pat Sajack does most of the work that Vanna White does on this computer game. And with this game you don't have to sit back and watch the game, you can get into the game if you don't have time to get on the game show. When the game beings, a seeting will come up like on road, or beach, or in Hawaii, but you can always change the setting if you want. But before you begin playing the game, you have to tell it a coouple of things, first you have to tell the computer, if you want to play a normal game, a solo game, a tournament game, or if you want to see the high scores. Then, you you have to tell the computer how long you want the game to be before the speed up round, if you want either a 15 minute game or a 20 minute game, and if you don't want to play a timed game, you don't have to, you can play a 3, 4, or 5 round games. You also have to tell the computer how many player(s) are playing, and then enter the name(s) of the player(s), then after all that you can begin the game. And Vanna will reveal a cateorgy and then the puzzle with either a few lines or many lines. And you can get pizes, like a suprise and prize, that is allready revealed to you if you care to know, but you can only get them if you solve the puzzle, and if you land on a bankrupt, you will then lose your puzzle(s). The things, that I don' like about the game is when you land on a bankrupt or lose a turn, or if you land on .... After the end of each round Vanna will reveal how many money does all the players have in thier bank.

I rarely watch the TV show, but I consider the CD-ROM game "Wheel of Fortune" to be a fun program. It's easy to install and setup. The rules are easy enough, and the game itself is mentally challenging in a simple sort of way. The graphics are good, and you can turn off the background videos and sounds if you like. For $[money], this is a good bargain.

PERFECT GAME,FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

I have 3 kids under 5. We've had this toy for 4 years, and they don't even bat an eye at it. We've tried everything to draw attention to this item, but it is either too advanced for even an alphabet-loving 5-year old, or it is boring. I thought it was fun, but my kids don't agree.

I loved this puzzle the minute I went on to this site and found it. It is high in teaching kids dexterity, hand-eye coordination, working with phonics, matching pictures to their background, and learning the alphabet. I love it because there are no pieces to get lost. It will be enough to challenge my 3 year old and as she grows with it; it will be enjoyable to do it. She loves puzzles but I was never able to bring them into the car because the pieces are never attached. This one is different and will definitely be going on vacations, grandma's, and to the doctor's office. I also like the fact that it is 2 different puzzles. They can flip to the other side and they still have to figure the puzzle out. This puzzle is a class act all the way. Makes a great gift!

Design genius. The puzzle is a sensory delight: scooting the litttle wooden pieces (can be more fun than cars) teaches decision making (the child must move the violin to get the whale in the right place, etc.). It is more amusing and challenging than the memorization that occurs after the second time through conventional jigsaw puzzles. It will be passed down through generations of kids, with no irritating cartoon character, no marketing cat plastered on it. Who wouldn't love a complex puzzle you can pick up in one stroke? Irresistable to adults and kids.

I recently purchased this puzzle for my toddler son. When I received it, I was disappointed with the small pieces and was going to send it back. I did, however, keep it because I thought the educational value may prove more important than the size of the puzzle.

Boy, was I right on that! My son truly enjoys putting together these mini-puzzles and on his own. He's only two, but loves his letters and shows interest in words. He's actually learning to spell! And I love the fact that the puzzle is self-correcting; he knows a word is spelt correctly if the puzzle is complete.

My son started this puzzle at age 2 and really enjoyed putting every set of words together and would not stop until every one was complete. He has always enjoyed puzzles. I would put the letters in groups so that each pile would complete a word.
Now that he is a little over 2 1/2 I can just let him search the whole box for the letters and match them up himself. I highly recommend it because after each individual puzzle is complete you can have your child spell it to you to continue the learning!

There are too many pieces to this puzzle..My son knows all his letters and can spell some words (he is 3) so I guess this was too advanced for him because the pieces were everywhere..I think this would be more beneficial if the letters were grouped in at least two to three per piece versus one puzzle piece per letter.