Science Reviews

My just-turned six-year-old opened the package and played with it for four hours! His one-year-old little brother also loves the count down and take off.

You got to give them credit for the level of detail. It is awesome and makes it worth the price. It's just to bad they did not put as much thought into the design. I bought is for my 4 year old. I takes everything I got to take it about and put back together. A screw together rather than snake would have been ideal. The thing goes to pieces everytime we take about the different stages. However, over all a very cool toy that my some loves.

My son is 4 and loves astronauts. He thinks this is a great toy but wants me to play it with him. I think the rocket is a little difficult for a 4 year old to assemble and the concept of the rocket breaking into stages is slighly bewildering. He always wants me to play it with him. (...)

This has pretty bad graphics. I don't know what that person was thinking when he said it has good graphics, the only good part is the intro. The gameplay is pretty easy but overall I wouldn't reccommend it to anyone.

This game is fun and exciting you do missions which are challenging and fun for the whole family and if you are a first timer at this game it has training missions for you to get started for your family fun activiy.

It is so good I have to get a new one because I used it was so good i played it too many times it broke.

This craft kit was very fun.. I enjoyed it very much! The flowers were so easy to make and the results were great. I decorated my room with the ones I made... Pretty Petals Scented Flower Maker is definately worth buying!

This would be my second box of pretty petals i bought for my daughter. She loves making them for family and friends.O.K I'll admit I enjoy making them also.Honestly the only part my 6 year old can do on her own is the painting part,but nevertheless she enjoys and takes the full credit for making them.The one and only problem that really upset her was the middles of the flowers,you know the scented things were not exactly what she expected.On the box they were PERLS and all she got was some plastic fake looking thing. ... . Small for me but a HUGE dissapointement for my 6 year old when she opened up her seconed box only to find the same cheep looking middles. poor her!!!

My daughter received this kit for her fifth birthday. Although it is recommended for 6 years and above she was able to twist the wire around the petal molds and around the stamen. She did need help with making sure she used enough paint and covered the wire and with wrapping the stem. She loved creating her own flowers and the waiting to let it dry only increased her excitement as she checked the petals to see how the color of the paint got brighter as it dried. This product yields results that match the packaging. It does require a child to have patience using the wire and doing the painting it isn't a project that can be rushed. NSi makes mamy other craft kits which we have tried and loved.

This game is not only a lot of fun and educational for the whole family, it will help your children to think independantly. In this world where journalists and media are afraid to disseminate the truth, we need more than ever to teach our children how to think and reason for themselves. Bioviva does that by helping young minds see the unobvious complex interelationship between all aspects of nature.

Excellent game. I've just finished playing with my nearly 9 year old and while I did beat her, it was pretty close. Definitely a game that can be played by a span of ages (very important in a household with two adults and kids ranging in age from 9 to 20!) without discouraging the younger ones or boring the older ones.

this is the best I've ever played in my life! My family & friends just love it! We miss new questions, help!!!

The Star Trek: Federation Compilation, made by Interplay, whose long line stretches about 20 years of history. Some of those games were Star Trek PC games. Big successes were Starfleet Command, Klingon Academy, 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites (both are here in the Federation Compilation). 25th Anniversary, the first game for the PC by Interplay was made, and soon it was successful after its release in 1993. 1995 rolled around. Interplay made another hit game, Star Trek: Judgement Rites. The game was made approximately six months after 25th Anniversary was released. The game was so successful that people buyed a CD with voiceovers for Judgement Rites. Now, here comes Star Trek: Starfleet Academy- Cadet Briefing. It's just a demo for 1998's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy- Strategic Command. 4 levels for the game are here.

If you were a PC gamer before the incarnation of the internet, you will remember a time when PC games were thoughtful and catered to a target audience of intelligent gamers who were looking for intellectual stimulation and an escape from reality. Star Trek: 25th anniversary and Judgement Rites provide just such an experience to the gamer.

Both of the orignal games are role-playing adventures. Each game contains seven "original" episodes based on the old series characters (to which all of the actors were kind enough to lend thier voices). To get through each episode, you have to solve puzzles, which are very thoughtfully crafted, and are accordingly rated on your performance by starfleet.

When I bought these games (on DOS diskettes) back in the early-90's, there was no speech, but I still found the episodes very engaging. Only recently, did I disover "the Federation Compilation" had restructured both games for Windows and thought I would give it a try. Much to my suprise, I had forgotten the solutions to many of the puzzles and with the voices added, I'm having a great time playing both games again.

My biggest apprehension in buying the Fed. Compilation (which has been discontinued by Interplay), was the idea that the games might not work under Windows ME since they are so antiquated. I bit the bullet and took a chance and bought them from a private seller. Have no fear, they work wonderful and smooth on my boss Pentium 4 monster machine under Windows ME. Get them if you can!

The only problems with the games now were the same problems back in the early-90's. The graphics are somewhat pixelated. This is technically only a problem when you can't see an item on the screen that you need to solve a puzzle (spoiler: look for the dismembered klingon hand in the first episode next to the dead kilingons). But, hey, if it's a tradeoff between playing a thoughtfully constructed "old game" with antiquated sounds and graphics versus playing a repetitive modern first person shooter with dynamite graphics (which is all companies seem to be releasing nowadays), I'll take the old over the new.

25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites each present 7 new Star Trek eposides in the form of adventure games for a total of 14 new episodes. All the original cast members return to lend their voices to this game (as well as the guy who played Trelane in The Squire of Gothos); the stories are excellent, the gameplay is excellent, and while the graphics are definitely cartoonish (except for the excellent cut scenes in Judgment Rites), these are two of the best games I've ever played. I highly recommend them. I also enjoyed the third game, Starfleet Academy, but this box only gives you a demo for it, containing a few missions. The missions however are intelligently designed, but the acting is horrible, just awful (the exact opposite of 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites), and you don't even play a member of the original crew. You're a cadet in training with a bunch of bad soap opera rejects. But so what, the first two games are worth the price alone, and as I said, the missions themselves in Starfleet Academy are quite good, it's just the acting in between that isn't.

Okay,Star Wars Rebel Assault 2 is a really good game,but if LucasArts and Factor 5 spent more time on it,I would've given it five stars.

You play the role of Rookie 1,and you're sent to inspect the Dreighton Triangle,because many ships have dissapeared there.But then a swarm of Tie Fighters come in and shoot you down.

You land on a planet,then you look for a YT-1300 Transport,while blasting StormTroopers all around(there are ground combat missions,too).
Then later in the game,you're sent to capture one of the Empire's Phantom Fighters.And guess what?There's even a first person shooter level too!
This isn't a game for younger kids,because it can get incredibly hard on different levels.

Pros:
Good graphics,on ground combat missions and various levels.

Plenty of action.

Three dificulty levels(easy,medium,and hard).

Ground Combat Missions!

Cons:
The game doesn't support the analog stick controllers.

Awful graphics on most of the levels.

You can't truely control the ships.They mostly control themselves while you blast the heck out of everything.

Having two disks is inconveinient.You have to put disk one in your PlayStation for the game to start,then put disk two in to acsess the later levels,if you've goten to them.

Sometimes controling where the crosshairs go is hard using the little arrow buttons.
There need to be more ground combat missions(come on,there's only three of them!)!

Overall,this is a good game,but it could have been WAY better.

I don't know about the rest of you, but today's games are generally WAY to hard for me to get through even the first couple of levels. I found this to be just right for me. It has breathtaking graphics and a quick pace, yet is intrinsically easy to figure out what you're supposed to do. This game has been around for the PSX since the early days and seems to be better than most of the Star Wars games that have come out since.

This is one of the best games I've ever played! Its graphics are realistic and dynamic!! You can't stop playing once you start-you'll be hooked!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan stays true to the once popular cartoon series and comic books. Each of the turtles are playable and all of their major enemies have been included. Increasing your life meter can be done by grabbing the turtles' favorite food, pizza. Gameplay is better than average. Each turtle has their appropriate weapon. Every weapon has the same power so the longer weapons of Leonardo and Donatello are the most useful. One button is used for attack and the other for jumping. Jumping seems a bit tight, meaning you can't get too far on a jump. Jumps are best used to go straight up to avoid enemies or making a hop on to the next step up. One other attack is done by crouching and pressing the attack button. This will throw a shuriken. Levels are broken down into stages. When you lose a turtle on a level and have others left you will be brought back to the beginning of the stage you were last on. No continues are offered so you will have to make it through without losing all 4 turtles. Before each level or when a turtle goes down you have the option of selecting another. It is probably best to begin the game with either Raphael or Michaelangelo so you can have the guys with longer weapons for the more difficult levels.
Many small enemies have been created for the game. Your majority of attackers though are from the television series and comic books. Those would be the Foot Soldiers and the Mousers. Most can be defeated with one hit so the challenge should not be too difficult. The whole game takes place while you progress to the right. Graphics look really good. Level backgrounds are detailed enough to give you an impression of where you are. Characters all look like themselves. The turtles can only be identified form each other by their weapons. Sounds are okay but all of your attacks sound the same. You can't hear a difference between a katana blade and a bo staff. If you are a fan of the turtles then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan should not disappoint you. For those who don't care for the turtles then this game doesn't offer anyhting you can't find somewhere else. As far as action games go this one is not too different from the majority.

Fall of the Foot Clan is a side-scroller in its most basic and simple form: this can be a good thing or a bad thing. Unless you have never played a video game before in your life, there will be little if any difficulty completing this one. There are five levels, four turtles, three bonus games, and a handful of enemies. Let me break it down like this:
Graphics: 5 of 10
Gameplay: 4 of 10
Sound: 7 of 10
Innovation: 1 of 10
Storyline: 2 of 10
Fun: 9 of 10
+ familiar characters, nice music (especially in level 5), cartoony graphics, mini-games
- too easy, no female turtle (no Venus), April is not playable, turtles walk slowly

This is a great game, nice big graphics for Gameboy. There are only four or five levels and barely any foot soldiers. You start out each level by picking a turtle to play as, if they die, then you pick another. Its not all that challenging, and it can probably be beaten in a day or a week. The graphics are a bit bland, because it came out so early in Gameboy's history. Its more like black on white, no gray.

I think this is a great product. It supports my son when he is sitting up and he loves to play with it. I have noticed older children like to curl up with it while watching television. I think this would make a nice gift because it is unique. Unlike most baby toys and products, we will get years of use out of the Activity Dino.

We recently ordered Dino for our 6 month old son, thinking we could use it initially to help him sit up and then later as a fun rough-and-tumble toy. What arrived was a small overstuffed sock with a few "crinkly" spines. The quality of the material was cheap and nasty and the construction is appauling. As for the "roar" of the nose - we could barely hear a squeak. Needless to say, we returned this "toy" immediately. Don't waste your money - a pillow with a decorative face would be just as good and at least the cover would be washable ! AWFUL !!!!!

My mother-in-law bought this for my son when he was a few months old. I never imagined he would love it as much as he does. When he was 3 or 4 months old it helped prop him up and he would look at it and pat it. Now, at 7 months he wrestles with it and plays with the spines on the back to hear the different noises. He loves the crinkly and shiny fabric. He tries to squeeze the nose which makes a great roaring sound. His eyes light up every time he sees dino!!!

This PSX sequel to the NES hit has its ups and downs. For one, the controls are hard to master. For another, the bad guys are slightly more difficult. But the graphics look nice and the story has depth, which is good. In this game, like the original, you pilot a giant mech machine that blasts weird beings that live underground. Press select to get out of the vehicle and go one-on-one, or just wreak havoc and blast everything in sight. Some good fun, but not the game to play for a few hours.

This game is definately worth buying for Blaster Master Fans. And Although it's now 3D, it still plays pretty well. The controls are well established, with my only grievence being the Strafe button for Jason is right above the camera angle button, which can get frustrating when starting out. But the music is well done, there's a few re-mixed songs from the first game inside, and the FMVs are really awesome to sit and watch. So maybe you're wondering why I've rated this game with only 4 stars instead of 5 if the game is so great? Well sadly, they couldn't resist putting in dubbed voice acting at some parts, luckily it isn't very frequent, but there were some pretty bad voices in there. Over all, though, this is a few good hours of game play. Although still not quite as good as the original(IMHO) Roddy is a pretty cool guy, but he'll never be as cool as Jason.

Blaster MAster was a classic on the days of the NES that got forgotten in time, until now. THe game has been converted to 3D but it works out just fine. The difficulty is just the same and the idea is the same. YOu drive a powerful tank to take out evil creatures that lurk beneath the planet. YOu gain powerups to help adn eventually you complete the game. IT is a reletivly cheap gaem so it is worth picking up, overall this is a franchise taht chould be continued.

This is a very tiny aquarium that is made of molded plastic that scratches VERY easily. The cardboard background is history once it gets wet. You cant get out under the undergravel filter to clean out algae or feces that is suctioned under the plate causing the aquarium to smell horribly when emptied. Yes, I know the thing is very cool when it is first installed, but it has some hidden dangers. The manual it comes with says it is alright for "1 or 2 goldfish" WRONG. Goldfish are very large fish and produce tremendous amounts of waste thus rendering the inadequate filter useless. GOLDFISH NEED 10 gallons of water per fish MINIMUM, no questions asked. Let me ask you a question, have you ever saw a large pond with 12 inch fish darting around in it? They are either Goldfish (yes goldfish) or Koi (a relative). So that is what that 1 inch little fish in the aquarium SHOULD grow up to be yes 12 inches. So since goldfish are out of the question I'll tell you what's best to put in the aquarium (if you are still convinced to get one). A Betta (aka Simese Fighting fish) is great for that aquarium lets see, it produces less waste, grows to only 3 in., comes in stunning color combinations, has beautiful flowing fins, yep sounds good, so there you are. But remember to only keep 1 betta per aquarium, as 2/more will fight and kill each other.

My daughter received this item for Christmas of 2000 and it
has held up very well. It is just now getting a little bit worn
and we are thinkin that we should replace it soon. My daughter
is an aspiring marine biologist and has found observing her
very own fish absolutely fascinating. She started off with 2 goldfish, but 1 died within the first week. We then went back to the
pet store and got a good filter, which has done wonders as far
as keeping it clean and keeping our remaining goldfish happy and
healthy.He's been around for over 2 years with no problems!
I think that this is an excellent product and a great introduction
to having a first pet. So much more fun than an ordinary
goldfish bowl! It is only large enough for 1 or 2 small fish,
so keep that in mind before buying!

You are very limited to the kind of fish due to there being no heater, filtration system, or lights with this. In fact we were told at the pet store that we could only get goldfish or a betta.
We were a little disappointed at that especially since they don't last as long as other fish. We also were told to add 2" of stones to the bottom which covers up all the fancies at the bottom. Expect about a 15 - 20$ expense in food, fish, water chemicals, stones, etc.
Even so we are enjoying our fish and are inspired to get a "real" aquarium or when these fish are gone. We may take the bowl into the pet store and see if we can attach a heater and such.
We are learning a lot through observation and about pet care, responsibilty, and just plain fun. Exciting for any age but especially first time pet/fish owners.