Jump Start Escape from Adventure Island
SCORE: 94
Jump Start has produced another great resource that parents can utilize to help their children learn. Escape from Adventure Island is an educational game designed for children ages 5-9 filled with a plethora of creative ways to learn math, reading, spelling and other critical elementary skills.
I was impressed with the graphical improvements this game showed in comparison to previous Jump Start games I’ve used. While the visuals are not cutting edge, they hold their own when compared to other simple Wii games on the market. Escape from Adventure Island has a cartoon-like design with plenty of bright colors to keep the mood light and fun. Your child’s learning adventure takes place on a tropical island filled will all sorts of colorful areas to explore. When you begin the game for the first time your child will create a character to use within the game. There are a surprising amount of customization options available here so you can be sure your child will come up a character that is as unique as they are. Players will encounter some “bad guys” in the game known as Punk Punks. Parents need not be concerned about violence in the game however. These Punk Punks are easily subdued by simply jumping on them at which point they discretely flatten and then vanish.
The audio in the game matches its fun cartoonish appearance. The music is light and bubbly and does not distract you from the task at hand. The ambient sounds found in the main beach area of the island are great. My wife and I noticed how calming and realistic these sounds were as the game was setting idle. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the audio in this game is the encouraging words your child will hear when they’re playing these learning games. This kind of encouragement is so rare in video games that it is certainly something to take note of. I will say that I found the in-game comments to be quite repetitive which can get annoying, but overall the audio in the game is very well done.
Jump Start Escape from Adventure Island is full of content. Your kids will be able to spend hours (not all at one time preferably) exploring the different areas of the island. As your child grows they will be able to play the games over and over by increasing the skill level to meet their abilities. Players can unlock additional wardrobe items and other bonus content to keep things fresh. This game is fun to play together with your children and a great way for you to interact with them in a fun way while they learn at the same time. This game is reasonably priced and well worth the price for the amount of content found within.
There are so many variations to the gameplay in this Jump Start game it’s hard to know where to start describing it. The objective of the game is to earn gold sand dollars by playing educational games. These sand dollars can be used to purchase enough helium tanks to re-inflate your blimp which has crash landed on the island. The layout of the island is similar to that of an amusement park enticing players to run around and explore. You control your character using the Wii remote with the Nunchuck attached. You are free to explore all of the areas of the island and discover which lessons are available in each one. The lessons are presented in the form of fun mini-games such as flying your character around with a jetpack to select the answer to a question, rolling a ball into the correct answer whilst avoiding the Punk Punks, and even playing a dancing game. Regardless of what your child’s natural aptitudes are, there is sure to be something for everyone. Escape from Adventure Island makes great use of the Wii’s motion controls so you can be sure to see your child moving around quite a bit while playing these games. With the ability to select varying levels of difficulty parents can help their child grow and expand their skills in each lesson at their own pace. I feel that this game is a fantastic way to encourage your child to learn what would otherwise be unexciting things such as fractions and telling time. My only criticism on the gameplay is the lagging response of the controls in some of the menus. This is something I’ve encountered in other Jump Start games as well and I hope to see it improved upon in future releases. All in all the gameplay is very well done and I applaud Jump Start for doing an incredible job of bringing education and video games together so successfully.
Families have a winner with Escape from Adventure Island. This video
game is a great learning resource that can be used in conjunction with
routine school work. This game could be a good way for parents to help a
child who struggles in a certain area to gain confidence by practicing
those skills in an entertaining and interactive way. The game is, of
course, safe for everyone and can be enjoyed together as a family. I
would encourage parents to think seriously about giving this game a try
if you have a child in the 5-9 range. This may not be an island you want
to escape from after all.
-Roger
Graphics: 97%
Sound: 88%
Replay/Extras: 93%
Gameplay: 94%
Family Friendly Factor: 100%
System: Wii
Publisher: Knowledge Adventure
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
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