Alyssa:
There’s greasy fingerprints on our Leapster screen and the stylus
isn’t in its holder.

Lia: Yeth. It looks as though Pappy was playing with
our Leapster again.

Alyssa: Lia, what is this new game Pappy gave us?

Lia: It’s I SPY Super Challenger! and
Pappy said we have to review it.

Alyssa: What does review mean?

Lia: I don’t know, but he said he would give
us each a dollar so let’s do it!

Pappy Randy: If you have been looking for an affordable
handheld system for your youngster and have been hesitant about shelling
out big bucks for a Nintendo DS and overpriced games of varying degrees
of quality, then look no further than the Leapster
Explorer. The Explorer has quickly become the favorite of my granddaughters
Lia (age 4 ¾) and Alyssa (age 3 ¾). We’ve yet
to come across a dud of a game and they are all reasonably priced
between $18 – $24. But as this is supposed to be a review of I
SPY Super Challenger and not the system itself, let’s get
to it!

I SPY Super Challenger! features five multilevel games for
the young gamer:

• Riddle Relay – This is the traditional I Spy game
  with a slight twist. Instead of the objects that need to be found
  being listed on the screen, they are read by a female voice when
  the ‘A’ button is pressed. The girls found this to be very helpful
  as they are not yet old enough to read large words, but they know
  what to look for when they hear the word read to them. They also
  get very excited when finding one of the required items.
• Fine Line – The player must drag the stylus across the
  screen to separate items into specific groups. For example, draw
  a line so that there are two marbles on each side of the screen.
• Bug Catcher – Player must catch like colored – or sometimes
  different colored – bugs in jars or use a flashlight to find bugs
  that look different from the others. Lots of crazy stylus tapping
  in this one!
• Match Attack – Shoot objects across the screen horizontally
  to match like objects. Sort of a horizontal version of Bubble
  Bobble. Look out for the Chomper!
• Spy Squares – Player must sort and line-up matching objects.
  While the bottom row may be all purple objects, the connecting row
  may be all sports related. The trick is to figure out the item that
  will link both rows together. Our favorite after Riddle Relay.

Each
game increases in difficulty, up to level 4, as the player gets better.
Players can also earn badges for achievements such as completing a
level and these badges can then be converted into tokens and redeemed
for game objects when you connect your Leapster to your home computer
and sign into your Leapfrog Connect Application (which is a wonderful
feature for both children and parents as it not only provides free
games, but also lets you track your child’s gameplay progress).

If there is a negative, it is not with the game itself, but with
Leapfrog’s new packaging for their Explorer series of games.
Cartridges that used to be packed in hard, plastic cases similar to
Nintendo DS games, are now in a heavy cardboard box that must be ripped
to remove the product thus rendering it useless for future storage.

I SPY Super Challenger has tremendous replay value and as
the player proceeds, the game will adjust itself to the player’s
skill level so that it’s never too hard or too easy. It is recommended
for children ages 5 – 9, but neither granddaughter has yet encountered
any difficulties though they might at some of the higher levels. Games
like I SPY are also an excellent way to get children interested
in pc adventure games such as the Putt Putt or Freddi the
Fish games from Humongous.

There
are over twenty award-winning I SPY titles available on numerous
platforms including the Wii, Nintendo DS, TAG, Leapster, iPhone and
Ipad apps, but so far, we’ve found the Leapster Explorer I
SPY Super Challenger! the easiest and most fun to play. And if
you are really an I SPY fan, there is an entire website
devoted to the series of games and books along with a 20th birthday
celebration of the I SPY brand.

Now, back to the girls!

Lia: Thank you for the I Spy game pappy!

Alyssa: Hey, where’s our dollar?