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The Powerpuff Girls: Learning Challenge 1, Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone

Score: 90%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Riverdeep
Developer: Riverdeep
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Edutainment

Graphics & Sound:

The first edutainment-style Powerpuff Girls game is out, and it has to appeal to kids of many different ages as well as teach them everything from math to spelling and phonics to map piloting and shapes. The Powerpuff Girls: Learning Challenge 1: Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone puts you in the role of the super hero preschoolers as they go up against Mojo Jojo's band of robo-clones. The only way to stop him is to collect the memory chips from his robots and attempt to hack into Mojo Jojo's base and find out some of his most secret secrets.

The sprite-based graphics are simple enough, but add to the 2D cartoony feel of the game. The graphics are all basic, but considering the demographic the game is made for (kids from 6-10), that won't be a problem, at least it isn't one from what I have seen.

The music is nothing that will be remembered after the game is turned off, but seems to help get kids involved with the game. It stays in the background a lot and keeps itself mostly out of the way.


Gameplay:

In The Powerpuff Girls: Learning Challenge 1: Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone, you need to stop Mojo Jojo from reeking more havoc, and to do that you need to collect blue, green and red memory chips from his evil robot clones.

Blossom takes to the rooftops to stop the clones with math. She and a Mojo Clone jump from satellite dish to satellite dish (with a number on each dish). At the top of the screen there is a math equation, which requires you to either fill in the number the equation equals or solve the (very basic) algebra question. You choose your answer by moving to a dish with the number you want on it and activating it. This will eventually trap the clone and give you a chip.

Bubbles takes to the streets as Mojo's Clones throw lettered trash all over the street. The Talking Dog tells you what word to spell, and as you spell out the words with the trash, you earn chips. Meanwhile, Buttercup flies around the area looking for hidden Mojos. You need to tell Buttercup which direction and how many squares to move across the map to find the clone whose position is described on a billboard.

Once you feel that you have gotten enough chips, you need to fly to Mojo's base and collect shapes that contain Chemical X. Then you use the chips as currency to choose and alter words to fit one of the code words needed to hack into Mojo's base.

The more times you play the games, the more involved they become. For example, the first time you face Mojo, the only thing you might need to change is the first or last letter or maybe the vowel (mind you, it starts off with three letter words). But later it involves changing tense or changing to a synonym or antonym.


Difficulty:

The more the games in Powerpuff Girls: Learning Challenge 1: Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone are played, the more involved the problems become. For example, Blossom's math problems have more holes in them, giving the player more freedom and creativity in cornering and trapping the villains, while Buttercup's maps get bigger and more road blocks block her path, as the directions Buttercup can travel become restricted. Also Bubbles' words that she needs to form become more complex (nothing too difficult mind you, but they grow to have a couple of vowels in them as well as a couple of syllables).

Game Mechanics:

There are two basic forms of movement in Powerpuff Girls: Learning Challenge 1: Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone: point-and-click, where your cursor is the Powerpuff Girl, and using the arrow keys and space bar to activate objects. As far as the control scheme is set up, it is simple enough for the child playing to focus on the game instead of the controls.

Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone is a great way to teach kids basic math and spelling, as well as path finding and other useful bits of knowledge that kids of that age need to be exposed to as much as possible.


-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows: 166 MHz Pentium or faster, Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, 100 MB available HD space, 32 MB RAM, 8x Speed CD drive, 16 bit-color 640X480 monitor, Windows compatible sound cards.

Macintosh: 180 MHz or faster, system 8.6-9.2.2, 100 MB HD space, 32 MB RAM 8x Speed CD drive, 16 bit-color 640X480 monitor, Windows compatible sound cards.

 

Test System:



Windows XP Professional Ed., AMD Athlon 600 MHz, 384 MB RAM, 24X CD-ROM, Geforce3 Ti200, DirectX 9.0.

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Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated