Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best JumpStart game
Comment: Hello, I'm StoryMaker. I've been enjoying JumpStart products since I was in Kindergarten. When I was about 8 years old, I got JumpStart Animal Adventures from the library. It taught me a few animal facts and has great graphics, but I wouldn't say it's the best JumpStart game.
Info:
CJ Frog, Edison Firefly, and CJ's tadpole nieces & nephews find out that Frankie the dog is holding a contest. To win, you must visit 4 different habitats - a rainforest, a temperate forest, a tide pool, and a savanna - and take photos of certain animals. Kids help CJ & friends succeed by playing this game. You visit the different habitats. Then, you click on animals to hear information about them and, on some occasions, play a game. Take photographs of the animals using the camera button and clicking on the desired animal. Then, place the photo on the correct slot on the contest sheet. The slots are labeled things like "Mammal", "Makes its own shell", and "Predator". Once all 4 contest sheets are complete and all of the games are played, you get to play the "Animal Smarts Game" to review everything you learned. You receive a printable certificate from Frankie.
Pros:
This game has excellent graphics and songs. It taught me some nice animal facts, and the games were very fun. It used a nice method for learning, I think: it teaches kids facts about animals and quizzes them later using contest sheets and, of course, the Animal Smarts Game. The Animal Smarts game was also VERY good. It is for 1 or 2 players. There is a category similar to the categories on the content sheets. Animals start appearing, and the player must select the animal that fits the category. I think JumpStart Animal Adventures is good enough, and teaches about animals.
Cons:
For one thing, I thought that this was just a teensy weensy bit obnoxious. I was annoyed how the tadpoles blabbed "WE'RE GUNNA WIN DAH CON-TEST! WE'RE GUNNA WIN DAH CON-TEST!" Of course, this is one of the more minor cons, as many kids could get past this fact easily. For another thing, though, a lot of the games seemed more like arcade-styled just-for-fun games than teaching tools - they usually didn't teach anything beyond what the child found out from clicking on the animal. I know, it's review work, but it really didn't teach much of anything most of the time. The leaf-cutter ants game seemed pretty educational though. Also, this game seemed kind of "pushy". Whenever you finish the contest sheet and played all the games for one habitat, they won't let you go back to that habitat until the game is finished. It's really "pushing" you to finishing the game, even if you don't want to. Also, although I did learn some animal facts, I didn't learn that much - it might be better suited for younger children who don't know as much about animals as I do.
Overall, I'd say that, if you have a young child (maybe 4-6 years old) then go for this game. If you have an older child, you might consider getting it from the library, but I wouldn't buy it. Also, check out these other great JumpStart computer games.
-JumpStart Explorers
-JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade
-JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade
-JumpStart Kindergarten Deluxe 2 CD Set
-Jumpstart Advanced Study Helpers V2.0
Also, although I've never played it, I've read that the disc entitled "Animal Field Trip" in Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten V2.0/Jumpstart Advanced Kindergarten (PC & Mac) is really JumpStart Animal Adventures renamed.
Signed, StoryMaker. "Gotta trust the kid's review!"
