Blue's Alphabet Book

Blue's Alphabet Book starts out with a choice of free play or playing the game, Blue's Clues. A child can explore the different areas and play games with familiar characters from the Blues Clues show. Children can play in 6 different activities including a memory game, object matching, letter matching, and more. In the Blue's Clues game, a page is missing from Blue's Alphabet Book. The child helps find the missing page by completing activities and then locating the clues. After all 3 clues are found, Steve sits in his thinking chair to figure out Blue's Clues.

Upside this game has good graphics and does introduce children to letter matching, decision-making, and simple motor skills. Blue's Alphabet Book can be a young child's introduction to the world of Game Boy Color. An easy game to maneuver, it can give a child confidence in using the different buttons on the console. The games are easy to figure out, children can use either the A or B buttons to select a game or function. Pressing the Select or Start buttons takes them back to the main screen. The letter matching, by catching leaves in a basket, is a good introduction to getting used to a console game, as well as, matching letters. If an incorrect letter is caught in a basket, it bounces off.

Downside the music and the small amount of speech is very scratchy. I was disappointed in the fact that there was no actual "discovery" of the clues or of the discovery of the mystery location where the alphabet page was located. All a child does is press a button and the children's voices on the cartridge say "A Clue A Clue!". You do not even have to point to the clue. When Steve sits in his thinking chair, the clues show above his head. Press a button and he says "You're Right!" There was not a way to be wrong as you are not given any choice.

There are words to spell (matching the alphabet noodles in the soup), but the most important part of spelling, the spoken word, is noticeably missing. This itself was the single most disappointing part of this title. Words are presented, but never spoken. My 5-year-old after playing this title for quite awhile came up to me exasperated and said, "I still don't know how to read! It doesn't tell me the words!" As long as you realize that the "early word recognition" does not include the spoken word, your young child should have a good time with Blue and have some fun learning as well.