Toy Story 2 Activity Center

Rating:
Summary: Fun and challenging!
Review: I can't believe anyone had anything negative to say about this game - it's GREAT!!!! It has four fun games, and each one has three levels of difficulty. The games all relate to the movie, which my son really likes. It's a bit too advanced for my 3-year-old at this point, but he can do the easiest level of the cone game (getting the cones across a street while avoiding oncoming cars), and I help him play the other games. I think when he's about five he'll be more able to play it. It's VERY educational in the sense that the games require good memory, logical thinking, and strategy, anticipating the next several moves you should make. I'm 35 years old and no dummy, but the luggage game (a series of 10 mazes) took me about 30 tries before I could win! The first few mazes were easy, but they got progressively harder, with booby traps and decoy cases. Each time you play, you have to remember which way was the right way to go in each maze, or you can get trapped. Honestly, it's a LOT of fun! The "critter corral" game is a bit like checkers. The first level is easy, level two is more challenging, and level 3 is VERY hard - again, I'm an adult, and it's taking me lots of practice to learn how to beat it! The Toy Shelf game is a fun arcade game. The only weak spots are the two art sections, but all in all, I think it's definitely worth the money for four fun, challenging games that are entertaining for kids OR adults. We got the game four days ago, and my son still asks for it immediately when he wakes up in the morning, and wants to play it three or four times a day.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Graphics, Fun Games!
Review: I had no problems loading or playing this game. The kids like it...the cone game is similar to Frogger...and my son loves the robot game. There are three levels on every game, so all my kids can play at their own level. Overall, not as good as the original Toy Story games, but worth the money (especially after the rebate).

Rating:
Summary: Nice Graphics, Fun Games!
Review: I had no problems loading or playing this game. The kids like it...the cone game is similar to Frogger...and my son loves the robot game. There are three levels on every game, so all my kids can play at their own level. Overall, not as good as the original Toy Story games, but worth the money (especially after the rebate).

Rating:
Summary: ALL of my kids love this game!
Review: I have three kids who LOVE this game. (A 5,7 and 9 year old.) It is fun and entertaining for all of them! My 7 and 9 year old girls especially like the "Comic Book Creator" My 5 year old son likes all the games,especially "Traffic Cones" and "The Toy Shelf" I have caught him laughing and having lots of fun when he plays! Based on my childrens reaction I Highly recommend this one! If you are looking for a fun game and love Toy Story, BUY THIS!

Rating:
Summary: ALL of my kids love this game!
Review: I have three kids who LOVE this game. (A 5,7 and 9 year old.) It is fun and entertaining for all of them! My 7 and 9 year old girls especially like the "Comic Book Creator" My 5 year old son likes all the games,especially "Traffic Cones" and "The Toy Shelf" I have caught him laughing and having lots of fun when he plays! Based on my childrens reaction I Highly recommend this one! If you are looking for a fun game and love Toy Story, BUY THIS!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy It!
Review: I'm with the majority on this one. This is a TERRIBLE program, well below the standards you would normally associate with the Disney brand. My 4 year-old, who is well-versed in children's computer software, lost interest almost immediately. The games are boring, lack depth and replay value, and are difficult to operate--most use the arrow keys to navigate instead of the mouse or track ball which we use. The printing projects lack choices, although they do produce nice output. All in all, a major disappointment.

On the other hand, the Lion King 2 Activity Center program which we bought at the same time is excellent. I think that the reason for the inconsistency is that while these programs are commissioned and marketed by Disney Interactive, they are actually produced by different independent developers who apparently have a great deal of latitute in determining what goes into the finished product. Disney needs to exert more control on product definition and quality control if they want to avoid another black eye like this one.

Rating:
Summary: Loser
Review: My 4 year-old (who is great at playing cd games) lost interest in 10 minutes. This is a badly designed game with minimal graphics and no story. There are a few games like "print" where you click on something and it prints...you don't even get to choose the character. The cone crossing game uses the arrow keys, not the mouse. And it crashes badly on the Mac. It is very un-Mac like. Too bad, we are such great fans of the movie. But save your money here.

Rating:
Summary: Nice graphics - nothing else
Review: Provided entertainment for a 3 year old for one afternoon -- the games are very simple and only have one level

Rating:
Summary: Won't install under Win XP
Review: The disneyinteractive.com customer support section has an entry for the problem but no solution. Calling their 888 number you learn that you need to send your CD-ROM (with a receipt) in to Disney for a swap. Apparently the problem is so ingrained in the software that it can't be published on the internet as an update. What a drag!

Rating:
Summary: Constant Computer Crasher! Avoid!
Review: The graphics are stunning, but alas, this buggy software constantly crashes a brand new Pentium III 500 with an 18 meg 3D graphics card and 128 meg of SDRAM memory! It even refuses to run the uninstaller. A real disappointment for my child....and me.