Customer Reviews

LeapFrog Leapster L-Max™ Educational Game: Spider-Man The Case of the Sinister Speller

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This "game" is so disappointing. My nephew loves Spiderman. He needs fun and subtle cues to stay engaged. He was so excited to get this his first LMAX cartridge we could barely get the box open fast enough. We popped it in and had to wait until the commercials or very long intro completed. Then we had to blindly navigate through the screens to get to games. They were NOT intuitive and then THUD. He lost interest and has not returned to the LMax since. What an absolute waste of money.

This game is good for kids who can read already. It teaches them to really look at the words and figure out which word is spelled incorrectly or is the incorrect one in the sentence. The game voice will say the sentence the way it should be. Then the child has to read the sentence again to determine which word is incorrect. When he/she clicks on the incorrrect word, it changes to the correct one. The cartridge IS VERY good. After going through the story to correct all the incorrect words, you get a key to unlock some games. I gave it three stars because the pen sensitivity on this game doesn't seem very good (although our Leapster is getting old -- it is a first generation Leapster). But then the other games seem OK with the pen.

My son and I had great expectations for this game; our expectations quickly turned in to disappointment. This "game" is really hard to call a game. It's more like one long reading exercise. Unlike many of the other L-Max games, wherein you learn the modules through interactive play, with this one you have to read and read and read the same story over again. Once you complete the story, you can then go to another area to "unlock" the game. Then in order to play the "game" you have to read some more. This is not the type of game where you can standby and provide guidance when needed, I found myself reading page, after page, after page, just to figure out for myself the objective of the "game" and then try to explain it to my son. I felt the money I paid for this game was a waste, no wonder when I went to purchase it, it was the only one in stock. Buyers beware!

I got this game for my son who just completed kindergarten, and begged for it. I thought it was a bit beyond him, as he just learned to read and write this past school year, but he is rapidly learning to recognize and differentiate correct from incorrect words, and he LOVES it. I guess the lure of Spiderman makes even spelling fun, reading the same story over and over.

We have a lot of Leapster games. My children are 5 and 7 and Spiderman is not my children's favorite game. They play it once in awhile.

The stories operate much like those in the Tag reading system. Touch the words to hear them read. Touch the pictures to hear the characters speak or read the signs. I'm not as impressed with the readings on Spiderman as I am with Tag, because the reading voice is much more monotonous. There is also no way to hear the entire narrative on each page read without touching each and every word. Of course, one advantage of Leapster is that there is some action on each page. However, there is only limited action. Most scenes are frozen, like in a comic book.

In order to play the games, the child must first read the story (or just scroll through it and look for the games). It's not entirely intuitive how to unlock the games. I went through an entire story not knowing I needed to look for and touch the Spiderman face near the narrative to play the games. Once the games are unlocked, the child can go straight to the game and play without rereading the story.

There are two levels of play for each game. It requires that the child understand how to read and spell. Toddlers and preschoolers may be too young to play. I think it's a good game for kindergarteners through second graders.

Below is a brief description of the available games:
*Snapshot: search the city for misspelled signs.
* Darkroom Doodle: unscramble the words in the sign.
* Control Panel: remove a letter from a word and replace it with another letter to make a new word.
* Web Sling: answer questions about the story.

If this is the only game you are getting for your child's Leapster, I wouldn't recommend it. It's not bad as part of the Leapster library, but there are more exciting games available.

All children are different, but this was my son's favorite game when he was 4 and 5. Other than Animal Genius, which he loved too, he could play this one without much help. He wasn't a huge Spiderman fan, but he loved the way this game was set up. He could let the game read the words/stories to him when he was younger. And when he started reading, he could change the settings and begin reading things on his own. I'm not sure why, but this was his favorite game. He played it ALL the time. He wasn't and still is not a big video game kid. He didn't like the traditional platform games yet (where you have to run, jump, etc.). This game was not difficult to navigate or play like some of the others. You just never know what you're child will like. Give this one a try. It was a big hit for us.

My five-year-old LOVES his Leapster Batman game and Pet Pals game, but found this Spiderman game to be very disappointing. He has played the other games hundreds of times and only played this one one or two times. He guards the other games very carefully, but has left Spiderman falling down behind the sofa. It's worth about $5 of fun and that's it. Batman and Pet Pals have paid for themselves over and over.

My son just loves this Leapster cartridge -- and it is really helping his spelling skills!