Dora's World Adventure

A young children’s game with a TV show tie-in.

This game is known as Dora the Explorer: Dora's World Adventures, and is for young children. It is a point-and-click game and offers children a challenge if they are still not accustomed to using a mouse. If your child is used to using a mouse, then this game will only offer a few hours of gaming. The game takes place in just four locations, whilst Dora tries to arrange a friendship day through playing two games in each location.

The Good

It has a fair amount of charm, and the TV show tie-in may thrill a few younger children. It is really only fit for preschoolers, but may work well as an introduction to computers for older kids. The games are very simple and involve moving and clicking the mouse. The learning games have that offer help to children that are struggling.

The Bad

It is dull and repetitive, and that may be a little unfair when children as young as four years old are supposed to play, but many parents complain that there is just not enough to it. Why does Dora only go to France, Russia, Tanzania, and China? There is more to the world than that. It is hardly a world adventure; it is more of a four-day weekend trip.

Parents that like to play the games with their kids say that they are unimpressed with the variety the game offers. Young children do seem to become bored of the game fairly quickly. It also has compatibility issues and may not work with some versions of Windows (most say it doesn’t work with Vista).

And The Ugly

Despite the title, there are not that many locations to explore. One would expect more variety in a game such as this, and it feels a little bit like a cash-in. It feels like the developers have cracked out a bit of cheap content with the excuse that young children do not need a rich gaming experience.

Activision has also said that future compatibly is a problem. It will run in XP only if you haven't upgraded Internet Explorer to version 7. There is something about security settings that doesn’t allow you to play.