I love Spelling!

PC version requires:
Windows 3.1/95/98, 486DX/33MHz, 2x CD-ROM, 9 Mb HD, 8-bit sound card, 640x480 pixels, 256 colors

Mac version requires:
System 7, 68LC040 25 MHz, 2x CD-ROM, 17 Mb HD, 8-bit audio, 640x480 pixels, 256 colors

Description:

I Love Spelling!

Participate in an intergalactic game show adventure and win spelling points in games against a friend, or that crafty opponent Xtra T! He hates spelling and is a 'treacherous and truculent tricky troublemaker'.

Marty Wordmaker is the game show host - he explains the games and can be called on for help at any time. Pick Astro Adventure, the Incredible Space Challenge or Word Attack, and start spelling!

Play games on the planets Amphibia, Anagrama, Aquatica and Arachna. Stay on each planet for as long as you like in Astro Adventure. The Incredible Space Challenge takes you to each planet for one game with 5 turns per player. Click on different areas of the screen on any planet, to see the inhabitants. Press 'Check spelling' when you think the puzzle is solved. There is always a local inhabitant who comments and encourages!

In Amphibia, guess the mystery word by clicking on letters on the leaves. This is like Hangman but without much pressure - quick guesses do get more points and using too many letters results in a zero score! Put the astrobunnies in order on Anagrama to figure out the word they are trying to spell, for example 'ari' becomes 'air'.

An articulate fish on Aquatica challenges you to spell the word you hear before you run out of bubbles. The bubbles hold different letters and rise at varying rates. They pop nicely for a correct selection and squeal in case of error. Arachna has a similar game - pick letters from a balloon to spell a spoken word, represented by insects trapped in a giant web!

In Word Attack, shoot the correct spelling for a spoken word from 3 different versions flying towards the Astronav balloon. This is harder than it sounds! Lose points for hitting an incorrect version. They come at you fast. On any of the planets, click on a crystal ball if it flies by - it's an opportunity to win bonus points by picking the correct spelling from 3 versions of a word.

Features:

• 5 different spelling adventures
• 1 or 2 players
• 3 different game modes
• 3 levels of difficulty set for each player
• Personal progress report of words mastered
• Highest Scores Ever list for each player
• Work on theme sets, e.g. Sportspell or Short 'e'
• Help always available from Marty Wordmaker
• Clues available at a cost in points
• Multiple users tracked
• Options for amount of animation and chat
• Options for speed of moving objects
• Options for small versus capital letters

Technical Aspects:

I found the choice of Astro Adventure versus the Incredible Space Challenge confusing as they both resulted in the same games on the same 4 planets. It took me a while to work out that they scheduled the games differently.

No manual was provided, but the game is discoverable and Marty Wordmaker provides online help. Unfortunately you can't click to interrupt his dialogues! The Readme file includes detailed technical troubleshooting instructions.

Report and Conclusions:

I especially liked the fact that 2 players can each play at their own level. So my 9 and 10 year old sons can play against each other, and still both be challenged by the level of the game. Level 3 is not easy for an adult either, so a parent and child can play together. It is helpful that game speed can be set slower for those who are uncomfortable with arcade action - the words can fly very quickly at you in Word Attack.

The program is rich in its dialogue, with puns, plays on words and lots of alliteration from the various characters - an example of language that is educational in itself and very entertaining!

If you know anyone who could use some spelling practice in an engaging context, this is a well worth a try. In fact, I really wanted to give it a Gold, but felt that the omission of a word-list editor to add your own word lists precluded that. But hey, it sure beats a spelling bee!