Zoombinis Mountain Rescue: The Math and Logic Odyssey Continues
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Riverdeep/The Learning Company Developer: TERC Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Edutainment
Graphics & Sound: Zoombinis Mountain Rescue: The Math and Logic Odyssey Continues takes place in a world where creatures are mix-n-match versions of each other and these differences and commonalities are used to help the children playing the game solve the many logic puzzles riddled throughout the Zoombini world. The graphics are a mix of 3D rendered images and 2D sprites. The images are highly detailed and full of bright color, and really allow the children to enjoy the game. The music behind Zoombinis is happy-go-lucky and high-spirited. Whenever the player completes one of the tasks, the music ramps up a bit and lets you know you are ready for the next challenge.
Gameplay: First off, you may be asking 'What the flup is a Zoombini?' They are little blue balls that have a variety of features. The child playing the game can choose 16 Zoombinis at a time, each with five different features - and five different choices for each feature. I was going to do the math to figure out exactly how many combinations of Zoombinis you could make, but after some serious thought, I decided that it would be better to leave it a mystery. Zoombinis Mountain Rescue: The Math and Logic Odyssey Continues starts off with the Zoombinis at their new home (to find out why the mix-and-match creatures had to find a new place to live, please get Zoombinis: Logical Journey - it is just as great as this sequel) and a cave entraps several Zoomnbinis in a tunnel outside of the village. The first goal for the children is to cross the land to go to this cave and save the trapped Zoombinis. They will have to control water flow (by correctly matching up body parts) and avoid Fleens to get to this tunnel. Once there, the kid rescues most of the lost friends, but then you learn that some are scattered inside the cave and now you must find them, as well as take some other creatures, called Boolies, to their home on the other side of the mountain, a place called Booliewood.
Difficulty: The level of difficulty in Zoombinis Mountain Rescue: The Math and Logic Odyssey Continues increases the more the child plays the game. At first, you are told exactly what you are supposed to do, and it tells you (almost outright) how you need to solve the logic puzzles, but after reaching the Boolies home once, and starting over to bring more in, you find that the clues the game gave you before have been left out. This is a great way to get kids to think more critically and test out different paths and ideas as far as what the game is asking for. For instance, if the game told you the order to arrange the Zoombinis (based on some common trait) the first time around, it might leave a couple of those details out and the child has to figure out logically which ones go where. As you bring more and more Boolies home, the game gives you fewer and fewer clues, but it should always be possible to figure out what needs to go where without sacrificing too many Zoombinis.
Game Mechanics: Zoombinis Mountain Rescue: The Math and Logic Odyssey Continues uses a simple point and click system. If you have to put a Zoombini in a particular spot, you just have to click and grab the creature and click where you want it to go. With this setup, it makes it easy for little kids to quickly pick up the ideas and details behind the game. If you are looking for a way to make a young child think more critically or help him or her understand logic and reasoning better, then I definitely recommend Zoombinis Mountain Rescue.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Minimum System Requirements: Windows: Pentium 200MHz, Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, 50 MB HD space, 32 MB RAM, 8x CD drive, High color 24-bit minimum resolution 800X640 monitor, Windows compatible sound card. Macintosh: Power PC 180MHz, Mac OS 8.6-OS X, 50 MB HD space, 64 MB RAM, 8x CD drive, High color 24-bit 13+ monitor, speakers.   Test System: Windows XP Professional Ed., AMD Athlon 600 MHz, 384 MB RAM, 24X CD-ROM, Geforce3 Ti200, DirectX 9.0.
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