Highlights Puzzlemania
Puzzle, Puzzle, Who’s Got The Puzzle?
A Review of Highlights Puzzlemania
Rich Cunningham
Growing up in a small logging town in Southern Oregon, the chances for entertainment were not very plentiful. We had one indoor theater for the winter, and one outdoor drive-in for the summer. There was one TV channel, and radio reception depended on the weather conditions. So I grew up reading just about anything that I could get my hands on, books, newspapers, magazines, etc. One of my favorite was a magazine called Highlights for Children. It featured stories, fairy tales, cartoons, how-to projects and puzzles. It made the trips to the dentist and doctor somewhat more bearable. The puzzles are what I remember the most. Now it is possible to relive the magic of those puzzles with the release of Puzzlemania.
Puzzlemania is a collection of over 100 games on one CD ROM that help children ages 6 and up to develop educational skills such as spelling, reading, vocabulary and thought process. Children are guided through the environments of the game by a little choo-choo train and a conductor. The interface is extremely easy to use, and the games can be played either at the player’s pace, or in a special “Challenge” setting. The program makes use of the full range of multimedia tools available today, including digital video clips, sound effects, and animated sequences. The sound track is original, and provides a pleasant background for the program.
To list all the games here would be impossible. It is best to say that they run the entire gauntlet from Hidden Picture and Find the Object puzzles, to Math Mazes and Geography Fun, to Mystery Maps, Audio Puzzles and Matching Games. There is an almost endless variety of games, and even though I have long outgrown this type of entertainment, I found myself having fun. (Call it nostalgia if you will, but it was fun !). The program is easy to install, and runs with no problems under Windows 95. It never locked up and seemed to run at a reasonable speed. It is nice to see that the program supports the 386SX processors, as there are undoubtedly still quite a few of those machines in schools everywhere. The included documentation is very sparse, but is sufficient to get the program running. There is a number to call for technical support, but it is not a toll free number.
This program would be a welcome addition to any home or school computer library. It provides hours of fun and entertainment, and helps sharpen learning skills. But my guess is that the child playing it won’t be too aware that they are learning anything – they will be too busy having fun.
School House Scorecard
| Product: | Highlights Puzzlemania |
| Company: | Highlights for Children |
| Cost: | $29.00 |
System Requirements:
IBM: 386SX-25 (486SX-33 recommended), 5MB hard drive space, 5MB available ram (8MB recommended), SVGA 640×480x256 display, MPC 1 compliant, Sound card, 1X CD ROM (2X recommended), Mouse, Windows 3.1 (works with Windows 95)Macintosh: 68030 CPU (68040 recommended), 5MB hard drive space, 5MB ram, 13″ RGB monitor, 640×480x256 color display, 1X CD ROM (2X recommended), System 7.01 or laterPower Macintosh: 6100/60 CPU or better, 5mb hard drive space, 8MB ram, 13″ RGB monitor, 640×480x256 color display, 2X CD ROM, System 7.01 or later.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 3
Sound 3
Overall Score:
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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