A key to this is exploring every nook and cranny of each screen and picking up every item available since you don't know when you'll need it. He sends Putt-Putt off to find six missing baby animals, and along the way the player must use problem-solving skills to complete the mission. Outback Al is an Australian jeep (all the characters are talking cars or talking animals) who doesn't sound as blatantly stereotypical as Baldini does. Like other Junior Adventures, this one combines the problem-solving of the main activity with a few fun mini-games and some learning along the way.īaldini the Italian baker car sends Putt-Putt to the zoo to deliver some food to Outback Al, who is getting the place ready for its grand opening. The usual Humongous staples are there: the bouncy music, the engaging characters, and the sillly hot spots. Freddi and Luther follow clues through underwater caves and canyons and outwit two criminal sharks to recover the kelp seeds.Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo is one of the earlier Putt-Putt adventures, but it still holds up even when compared against his later games. Without them, all the sea creatures will starve. Replay Value: Once the adventure is done, there probably won't be much replaying going on.įreddi Fish and her pal Luther must find Grandma Grouper's missing kelp seeds. Sound: Nice background music, and the voices are fun.Įnjoyment: Overall, a fun game to play for kids (and adults, too). Graphics: Very well done the animations are great.
Minor quibbles aside, though, Freddi Fish is certainly a worthwhile addition to any child's PC game library. A better choice might have been a science-related activity which teaches children about the ocean and its inhabitants. The feeding game is fun (and, again, it's probably easier for older kids than younger ones), but the math activity feels tacked on, as if the people at Humongous felt obligated to throw in a feature which they could claim is educational. There are also a couple extra activities in this game, such as a math quiz run by a starfish and a feeding game where the player controls Freddi and tries to throw jellyfish into the mouths of approaching fish, turtles, and octopii. This is good, especially for the younger kids, because they can feel like they're accomplishing something even if the gameplay is too hard. The hot spots are one of the best features, since they usually produce a variety of effects when clicked, which encourages plenty of exploring. The characters are endearing, and the background music sets the tone nicely without being too overbearing.
Like the Putt-Putt and Pajama Sam series, Freddi Fish is full of well-done animations and engaging music. While this may be difficult for kids who are preschool age, first and second graders should be able to follow the sequence of events needed to solve the crime. Sometimes the puzzles are easy to solve, such as finding the key to open the cage which Fiddler Crab is stuck in, while others, such as figuring out what to give the king, require solving two or three puzzles first before the goal becomes clear.
Kids learn problem-solving skills as they pick up various items and try to figure out how to use them in order to get what they need. There are lots of places to go in this game as kids navigate around Freddi's world in search of clues which will lead them to Grandma Grouper's stolen kelp seed treasure. The puzzles are difficult without being frustrating, and there are plenty of fun animations to watch and hot spots to click along the way. Humongous Entertainment has done it again with Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, an adventure game just about perfect for the 3-to-8-year-old age group it targets.