Elroy Goes Bugzerk

Everyone’s Going Buggy Over Elroy Goes Bugzerk!

A Review of Elroy Goes Bugzerk

Tina Velgos

Wacky Elroy captured our household with his zany, off-beat humor and

his cool canine buddy, Blue. The kids were stomping their feet and chasing

each other around the room after playing Elroy Goes Bugzerk all afternoon!

This interactive comedy is for kids of all ages (recommended ages are for 7

- 97, but my 3-year-old tells me it’s his favorite CD-ROM of all!!).

Elroy Goes Bugzerk is the first episode in the “What the Heck Will Elroy Do

Next” series from Headbone Interactive. Kids of all ages team up with Elroy

and Blue as they pound the pavement, like mini-cybersleuths, in search of

an awesome cyber-bug to defeat mega-jerk Gordon Smugs in the 10th Annual

Big City Insectathon. Challenging stuff.

Elroy and Blue, the hot comic duo, and your mouse-clicking, adventure-happy

kids will quickly discover that Smugs is one tough opponent. To get to the

bug of their dreams, the TECHNOLOPTERA (How’s that for a word?), the kids

will have to go through a major obstacle course and some pretty tricky

problems.

Keeping Elroy out of trouble seems to be the running theme in

Elroy Goes Bugzerk. It is fun to watch Elroy, like Dennis the Menace, as he

contemplates using a slingshot to help him with the first activity, getting

a chicken’s egg so that he can bake a cake to replace the one that his

trusty dog, Blue, ate. We watch Elroy steady his slingshot, only to lose

his balance and fall out of the tree. Of course, Elroy bounces back and

continues on with his chase to find the Technoloptera!

One of the more difficult activities was helping Elroy bake a cake. The

cyber-sleuths must help Elroy follow the cookbook exactly, but they only

get one chance to add the secret ingredient to the recipe.

If they ruin the

recipe, they witness the cake blowing up or turning into a jungle and the

game is over. If the kids succeed with this activity, they will proceed to

the final level of the game — to find the technoloptera. This really

entails some deductive reasoning on the part of our young detectives and

10-year-old Stefanie agreed it was challenging, but loads of fun.

Watch the kids roll in the dirt with Elroy as he uncovers clues to win the

race. Since it is cyber-dirt, there’s no need to yell at the kids for

making a mess! Tim loved watching Elroy and Blue chase the chickens,

tripping and stumbling as they performed some hilarious gymnastics to lure

the chickens their way. Good, clean fun!

Although Elroy Goes Bugzerk has no background music, the sound effects and

the character voices were excellent. Headbone Interactive says this CD-ROM

is loaded with more animation than a feature length film. If you are

looking for interactive entertainment, you’ve found it!!

There are also some cool learning opportunities for the kids as they fall

on the floor laughing at Elroy and Blue. By clicking on the various bugs

that crawl across the screen, you can learn the difference between a Pupa

and a Mandible (hey, you can never get too many insect facts!), while being

charmed by Elroy’s off-beat humor. You’ll need to roll up your sleeves and

apply some deductive reasoning if you want to see Elroy win the 10th Annual

Big City Insectathon. The more you explore, the more you learn. Good luck

and don’t go bugzerk, too! That’s Elroy’s job!!!!

School House Scorecard

Product:	Elroy Goes Bugzerk
Company:	Headbone Interactive 1520 Bellevue Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 Phone: 1-800-267-4709 E-Mail: info@headbone.wa.com. Internet: http://headbone.wa.com

Cost:

$49.99

PC:
33 MHz 486 processor or better,
Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher, 8MB RAM required,
CD-ROM drive (double-speed recommended),
Windows-compatible sound card and speakers,
Color monitor that displays 640x480x256 colors
Mouse.

Macintosh:
25 MHz 68040 processor or better,
8MB RAM, System 7 or higher,
CD-ROM drive (double-speed recommended),
Color monitor that displays 640x480x256 colors.