This animated tale of Mia the mouse begins with her being washed down a
drainspout during a sudden storm. She loses her mother's new hat which she
had been playing without permission. Her hat is swept down the sewer and
found by the evil rat Romaine and his cousins. Players help Mia find her way
home as she discovers hidden adventures along the way. By answering
questions to various games and being observant and resourceful, Mia earns
Sparklies to help her replace her mother's hat.
Romaine's New Hat is filled with
amusing characters Mia encounters in her explorations. Each provides the setting for one
of eight different activities. For example, at Freddy's sundial,
weather and solar system games are played; Simon the Scientist quizzes
players on plant parts; and Mr. Icon focuses on energy, forces and
matter concepts.
Four different levels of play allow children to tailor the
program to their abilities. The background music is
optional and the games can be played by themselves without having to explore
Mia's neighborhood.
Educational Value
Romaine's New Hat introduces the younger set to very basic concepts involved in
heat, energy, forces, plants, animals, electricity, magnetism, the solar
system, and earth science. Much of this is done by recognizing patterns in
nature and science and reinforced with a variety of fun repetitive
games - arcade, matching, card, etc. This is not a program that offers
in-depth explanations.
Kid Appeal
The animated graphics in Romaine's New Hat are extremely engaging. Much attention
has been given to creating engaging characters who will appeal to both girls
and boys because of their playfully independent mannerisms and humor.
Younger kids enjoy matching games, squirting slime at objects, clicking the
mouse on bright gleaming objects, and skateboard manuvering. The program
moves slowly enough for youngsters to navigate but perhaps a little too
slowly for many 10 and 11 year olds who can handle a little more technical
and scientific information. One 10 year old found it fun but awfully slow
moving for his tastes.
Ease of Use / Install
Romaine's New Hat installed easily on our Windows 98, Pentium II test machine.
Younger children may find it awkward to switch back and forth between the 2
disks when playing the various games. The instruction booklet is fairly
complete and really does help in guiding players through the program's nuances.
Make sure you keep the short cut command buttons instructions close by for
easy reference. We kept forgetting to press F3 to save the game and had to
start Mia's adventures from the beginning which was a little tedious (especially after
you've done it a few times).
Best for... / Bottom-Line
This game is recommended for the very young. Children older than 10 may not
have the patience to explore with Mia. This program is easy enough and moves
at a slow enough pace for most younger children to enjoy without having to be
guided by an adult after the first few times.
PC:
Windows 95 or later,
Pentium 166 or faster,
40 MB hard drive space,
32 MB RAM ,
640 x 480 x 256 color display,
6x CD-ROM drive,
SoundBlaster compatible sound card
.
Mac:
System 8.1 or later,
PowerPC 275mhz, G3 233 mhz, iMac, or faster cpu,
40 MB hard drive space,
32 MB RAM ,
640 x 480 x 256 color display,
6x CD-ROM drive.
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