Amazon.com Review
This deliberately paced program takes place in Charlie Brown's world, where kids dress the same day after day and the only character with attitude is a beagle. Players who persist through this CD-ROM's slow start will be rewarded with games and scenarios that emulate what it's like to live in the middle of a "Peanuts" cartoon. This is a good thing for kids who like the strip and the handful of "Peanuts" TV specials in existence. But kids who prefer the more frenetic pace of modern cartoons might find
Where's the Blanket, Charlie Brown? a bit too placid.
The mental workout this program provides is excellent. More than any other game manufacturer, Tivola has mastered the art of setting up a problem, then quietly letting the player figure out how to solve it. Linus's blanket is lost, and players can either assume the identity of Charlie Brown or Lucy and find it. Once the problem is presented, players must navigate around Charlie Brown's house and use their powers of observation to get the game moving. This segment can make players feel like they're trapped in "Peanuts" purgatory, as they arrow Charlie Brown from room to room, desperately searching for a means out of the house and into the rest of the game. The on-disc Help file spells out exactly where players must look and what they must collect to move on--resist the temptation to look at the Help file. You will miss the challenge and charm of this game if you lose patience and cheat.
As the story line leads from Charlie Brown's house to a library to Schroeder's piano room to a supermarket with many other stops in between, games are unlocked. The nine games are short, smart endeavors. Some of the standouts include a game in which Schroeder plays a short melody on his piano, and kids must click on sequences of actual notes that match the melody. Another great game requires kids to put poor, scrambled Peppermint Patty back together after she is magically rearranged by the Great Houndini. This descrambling has some added twists that push it far beyond typical match-the-parts games. Each of the nine games has two levels of difficulty, and once they are unlocked, they can be instantly accessed for repeat play.
On the way to these games are numerous other minigames, opportunities for problem solving, and goodies you can feed Snoopy to keep his Snoopy meter on full. Players can play this game in German as well as English. Where's the Blanket, Charlie Brown? probably won't hold up to a lot of repeat play by older kids, but the gentle way this program forces players to use their entire brains to find that darn blanket is remarkable. (Ages 4 to 102 according to the manufacturer; we say 4 to 8, although hard-core "Peanuts" fans of any age will also enjoy it.) --Anne Erickson
Product Description
Join Snoopy Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang in ahumorous and exciting adventure game!Product InformationGood Grief! Linus' security blanket is missing and it is up to you and thePeanuts Gang to track it down! Team up with Charlie Brown or Lucy as Snoopyguides you through this unique educational discovery game. Enter the world ofPeanuts and drop into computer camp go to the supermarket check out thelibrary or catch the magic show of the "Great Houndini" (who looks alot like Snoopy)! Designed to appeal to kids of all ages this play-storywill delight youngsters as they learn valuable lessons along the way!Skills Learned Problem Solving Skills Pattern Recognition Mathematical Familiarity Mapping Skills Spatial Awareness Music Exploration Emotional and Social Awareness FriendshipActivities Include Catch Snoopy Steer the Bus with Snoopy Supermarket Rally Houndini's Favorite Trick Find the Book Musical Memory Game Dual Level Math Game Print and Color your favorite Peanuts CharactersProduct Features Discover the nine games within the game Watch the needle on the Snoopy Meter. If it gets low then it's time to feed the beagle. Play as Charlie Brown or Lucy Switch from English to German Hilarious! Fun! Intrigue! Suspense!Windows Requirements Windows 95 98 Me NT 2000 XP Pentium 166 MHz processor 32 MB of RAM SVGA-graphics card (16-bit) Sound Card 4X CD-ROM-drive 40 MB free hard disc spaceMacintosh Requirements MAC OS 8.1 to 9.0 Power PC 32 MB RAM Graphics card (32768 colors) Sound card 4X CD-ROM-drive 40 MB free hard disc space
