When the game starts kids are immediately dropped into conflict that epitomizes the Star Wars Cone Wars series:

Republic forces under siege. Join Jedi leaders Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and lead an elite squadron of Clone Troopers against General Grievious and his Separatist forces. The force is with you when you use the motion controller to fly and blast your way to victory.

Republic Squadron is designed for kids 5 and up, though the range of gameplay will make this interesting for much older kids. Younger kids can largely get by with button mashing and a forgiving game sequence that helps you move along. Older kids will have interest in the more detailed parts, like high score, accuracy bonuses and so on.

The gameplay is broken down into five campaigns, each campaign consisting of several missions. Kids can jump around as they wish, but the first four campaigns must be completed to unlock the last one. Jakks has done well to keep the game interesting; it’s easy for these games to get repetitive. Missions are one of four types of gameplay, and they’re mixed up through each campaign, so kids will see enough variety.

Space battles have kids use the motion controller to move their crosshairs to shoot down enemy droid fighters and other crafts. In gunnery missions, kids will control a stationary turret to blast enemies. Evasion gives kids full control of a ship to maneuver around obstacles. Lastly, in surface battles, kids have to blast both air and ground units.

Regardless of the mission type though, they all rely on the motion controls. Even within some of the missions, kids will have to make extra actions, like shaking the controller to replenish shields. We found the motion controls to be accurate and they really give the game more depth by increasing the interactivity.

We’ve tested a lot of products from Jakks and have to say this is by far their best effort to date. With a $30 street price, kids will have a lot of fun, with a game that’s completely portable and doesn’t depend on a gaming console. Republic Squadron will definitely make young Jedi happy.

Editor’s Rating – 4 out of 5 stars

We saw many of the games in various beta stages at a pre-CES press event and were largely impressed by the offerings, especially when you factor in price point. Jakks continues to believe that offering fun interactive games to the family at reasonable prices is a good model, and we tend to agree.

TV Games Motion

TV Games Motion is a new game line that combines an accelerometer with plug and play simplicity. The accelerometer gives a new level of gaming control; as players turn the controller to the left for instance, the game reacts. We demoed an early release of their new Star Wars game and found the concept to be great when trying to blast enemy ships. TV Games Motion titles will include Star Wars, Toy Story, SpongeBob SquarePants, Spider-Man, Disney Fairies, Power Rangers and more to be announced. They’re designed for ages 5 and up, and will retail for $29.99.

TV Games Sing Scene

Sing Scene builds on the music gaming trend by offering an all inclusive plug and play microphone. Kids will sing along with included songs as the game tracks their performance to see if they’re on key. Sing Scene is designed for kids 8+ and will retail for $29.99.

Jump Camp Fitness Video Game

This mat-based fitness video game includes over 15 sports activities, fitness and casual games. Similar to the idea behind Wii Fit, families can work out together in a way that’s fun and interactive. Jump Camp is for ages 8 and up and will reail for $39.99.

Big Buck Hunter Pro TV Games

The #1 hunting arcade game comes to your TV with an all inclusive pump action gun. Jakks has faithfully recreated the original game and it will be the only shooting game of its type in the market. Big Buck Hunter is suggested for ages 8+ and will retail for $39.99.

Jakks also had a few other TV Games on hand and they’ve updated the packaging, which looks much more modern. We’re impressed with their efforts and look forward to getting hands on with these units as they get closer to release.

Update 10/7/09 – Star Wars Republic Squadron Review Posted

Setup

It’s very easy to get started with this game, simply add four AA batteries (not included) and connect two cables to a TV, one for video and one for audio. The Controller has A and B buttons as part of a music note to the left of the joystick controller. At the front of the base are the menu button and power button, which is disguised as a music not and actually something that can be missed entirely the first time.

Gameplay

The base gameplay consists of controlling Sharpay, or more appropriately Sharpay’s pink golf cart, as she socializes around the country club. Her cell phone rings frequently with various tasks to complete. There are three mini-games, along with a collecting game where Sharpay has to collect 10 missing objects in five minutes.

Each mini game has to be completed at nine levels to win the game. The nine levels are broken into three three-level chunks, so you essentially have to play each  mini game three times at progressively harder levels. Additionally Sharpay has to locate missing items twice, which can actually be difficult as the main map is reasonably large for a game like this. 

The first mini-game encountered is Food Fiasco. In this game Troy must wait tables and clean up for tips. The game is repetitive though, as there are only four possible menu items for each table and tables with two people share a single dish. What’s a little odd is that serving a single milkshake, bowl of soup or a salad can net a tab of $36. The customers are also repetitive, frequently you’ll see two or three identical sets of people at the four tables Troy waits. 

Baseball Boogie is another mini game where Chad and Ryan dance on the baseball diamond. Six symbols scroll by (A, B, left, right, up and down) and the player has to match and time the proper symbols with a gauge at the bottom of hte screen. To compelte each level players have to play the game once as Chad and again as Ryan. There’s not much difficulty here and again the game feels repetitive.

The last mini game is Gourmet Creations where kids will help Zeke make food orders. As the orders come in players select the ingredients, and perform some machination (press and hold the A button, move the joystick back and forth, etc.) to cook and plate the food. Again, our test group found it to be repetitive and not terribly interesting.

The game supports multiple profiles, so more than one child can play and save their progress with HSM. The game can be completed in 40-45 minutes by advanced players; but most kids will take an hour or more. 

Bottom Line

For a game that’s aimed at tweens, the tasks aren’t very engaging or difficult. And while we generally look the other way on graphics, for older kids, they might be a problem. For the price we generally like these TV Games, but this time the end result doesn’t match the expectations of the audience very well. Only the most die-hard HSM fans will potentially have fun with this game.

2 out of 5 stars

SwingZone Sports Setup

Out of the box you’ll notice the console itself, a remote control and five attachments. The remote needs two AA batteries and the console needs four (not included). The console is pretty simple, it has two cables for connecting to a TV, one for audio and one for video. On the front there’s a power button and sync button to reconnect with the wireless controller should they lose signal. The remote control has an A and B button, along with a D-pad and off button.

Setting up couldn’t be any easier. It’s plug and play, like other products from Jakks. It’s also easy to power on and work with the menus as well. Kids who can read will be fine on their own out of the gate. Younger kids will pick up the process pretty quickly as well, and will be off and running. Each game also has a tutorial so all-in-all it doesn’t get a lot easier.

It’s nearly impossible to evaluate SwingZone Sports without making comparisons to the Nintendo Wii. We’ll get it all out in this paragraph. While SwingZone Sports bears a close resemblance to Wii Sports, it’s not the same thing and isn’t trying to be. This product is about easy setup and instant fun for the whole family, without having to spend upwards of $250. It’s also much more portable and even works well with a car’s entertainment system. While the Wii games are going to look better and have more functionality, SwingZone Sports has a lot to offer, but to an entirely different audience.

Using SwingZone Sports

SwingZone works a based on a wireless controller with an accelerometer, which measures the speed and direction the controller is moving. That’s why when you swing the controller, a tennis racquet swings in response on the TV. Kids really love this sort of interaction, plus it gets them up and moving, which is a nice plus.

UltiMotion SwingZone Sports features five games that can be played individually or in 2-player mode, where players alternate using the same controller. 2-player mode adds a good deal of fun, kids in our test loved going back and forth with each other. This also teaches taking turns, which is another nice bonus. The only complaint really is there’s only one controller and even if you want to buy a second one, you can’t. It’s also limited to 2-players at a time, which is also a problem if you want to play a round of golf with the whole family.

The game areas include bowling, tennis, baseball, football and golf. Simply select the game you want to play, the number of players then your avatar. The avatars are a little hit or miss, several kids really didn’t want to be the guy with the mohawk, but there are only two avatars per game, so in a 2-player game, someone either has to select an avatar that they don’t really want, be it a girl, boy, mohawk guy, whatever. It would be wise in future versions to include more avatar choices for each game.

Each game also comes with a controller accessory, a plastic housing for the controller in the shape of a tennis racquet, baseball bat, bowling ball, football and golf club. The idea is to switch out the shell depending on which game you’re playing. The accessories don’t add any functional value though and are difficult for kids to switch out on their own. We ended up not using them after the first few tries and wouldn’t mind at all if Jakks dropped them from the package.

Bowling

One of our favorite games, bowling is very easy to pick up and go. There’s also a bumper bowling option, which is fantastic for younger kids and not-so-coordinated adults. The game lets players change their position and bowling angle before tossing the ball down the lane. As you release a twist of the wrist will add spin to the ball. Definitely the crowd favorite, bowling is well done and appropriate for all ages, thanks to bumper bowling mode.

Tennis

Tennis is the only single-player game on the system. Players can choose to play 1, 3, or 5 sets (it takes 2 games to win a set). It takes a little to get the timing down, but once you do tennis is pretty fun. Mastering the timing is key though as hitting the ball early for instance, will yield a hard angle shot. There’s also a little finesse involved in learning a few other twists like drop and lob shots. Tennis is pretty tough for younger kids to do well with, we saw success in the 7-8 age range though.

Golf

The graphics here are what we’d like to call “retro” but that takes away none of the enjoyment. Choose the club from your bag and swing the controller much like a normal golf club to send the ball flying. The map tells you more or less how hard to hit the ball, but it’s all about feel as you try to figure out how hard to swing to go half way up the power meter. The back and forth here makes golf pretty close to bowling in terms of 2-player fun. Kids will post some ugly scores, but have fun nonetheless as they try to get the ball in the cup. 

Baseball

In this game you get 10 pitches in a home run derby style game. This one is all about timing and because it requires precision to succeed, it was the hardest for younger kids to play and therefore their least favorite. It’s also not nearly as deep as the other games, so their assessment is probably reasonable. Still, not bad for the older kids who love baseball and one parents in the group had some fun with.

Football

Football is a target contest, kids get a set number of balls to try to hit targets with over three rounds. The more targets you hit, and the more challenging the target, the more points you earn. Perfect shots yield extra balls and bonuses if you hit several targets at once. Targeting is done with the d-pad or wrist rotation, then a windup and tossing motion will send the ball flying. Again we saw younger kids having a bit of trouble with the timing, but there’s still a lot of value here for older kids and parents.

I took SwingZone to a place where I thought it would be a tremendous success – Grandpa’s house at Thanksgiving. And here’s really where the product shines. Plug in two cords and press the power button and you’re up and running. My five year-old son had a blast playing with his Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. As you might expect, Grandpa hasn’t embraced the latest technology, nor does he have an advanced gaming system. As a result SwingZone Sports was a perfect fit and everyone had fun with it, even those with gaming consoles at home. Kids under 5-6 will have the most fun with bowling and golf, while older kids might enjoy all five games. This is also something that parents will have fun playing a long with.

Bottom Line

The graphics aren’t the best, you can’t add a second controller and you’re limited to two players. But SwingZone Sports also has a lot to offer, including a price tag under $60 and entertainment for kids that parents can have fun with too. Kids get up and moving, work on sharing and coordination and generally have a very good time. As we always say with these things, kids don’t care about the graphics, though they do appear to care about the avatars, something that should be addressed. At the end of the day though, we find UltiMotion SwingZone Sports to be a good value and worthwhile purchase if you’re looking for an easy to use game system for kids who like sports. It’s very portable too, so it’s great for taking on the road or a friend’s house, adding to the flexibility of the unit.

3.5 out of 5 stars

In the Box

You’ll find the scanner (that uses 3 AA batteries, which are included), one Smart Animal (White Bengal Tiger), and a map in the main box.  If you decide to buy additional animals, there are a few different sets and these “add-on” packs include just the animals or animal habitats in some cases.

Discovery Kids Smart Animal Scanopedia

Features and Usage

The scanner itself couldn’t be much simpler to use.  Once batteries are installed, you’re ready to go and any button will power it on.  The tip of the scanner is used to scan the Discovery Kids logo on the animals, or the spaces on the fold-out map.  This technology is similar to the LeapFrog Tag Reader, that uses micro-printing for the scanner to figure out what it has scanned.

Scanopedia scanner

There are a few buttons on the scanner.  The Fact button will cycle through the built-in facts for the last animal that you’ve scanned.  The Quiz button will ask a question about the last animal that you scanned and you can answer the questions using the True and False buttons.  Finally, there is a scroll wheel that lets you access animals that you’ve unlocked.

The included map is a pretty large fold-out poster that is covered in animals (which can all be scanned by the scanner).  The map can also be used to launch one of three games – just scan the right area to play: Guess that Call, Where in the World Does That Animal Live?, and Guess That Habitat.  The one downside of the map is that it won’t last long in most households unless steps are taken to protect it.  It’s a heavier-stock paper, but it’s still easy to tear and will wear down quickly as kids sit on it, fold it up, and unfold it.

Map sample

The Smart Animals are high-quality plastic figurines, about 3 inches in size.   Each Smart Animal has a Discovery Kids logo that can be scanned.  Once scanned, you can access six facts and four quizzes about that animal.  In addition. by scanning the Smart Animal, there are 8 additional Bonus Animals, on the map, that are unlocked.  Each Bonus Animal has two facts and three quizzes.  So, to unlock all of the animals on the fold-out map, you’ll have to buy every pack of Smart Animals.  For our review, we had the White Bengal Tiger that came with the scanner, and we had the “Forest Animals” pack that included a leopard, moose, tiger, and red panda.

Scan the logo to discover the animal

Smart Animals

The facts that are available for each “discovered” animal include:

• Class and Location – What class does the animal fall under and where does it live?
• Height and Weight

Then, if it’s Smart Animal, there are four more facts:

• Lifespan
• Food
• Discovery Fact 1 & 2

The quizzes (one question per quiz) include questions on:

• Predator or prey?
• Habitat
• Diet
• Who is bigger? (only for Smart Animals)

Bottom Line

If your child has an interest in animals and just sponges up animals facts, the Smart Animals Scanopedia is a worthwhile investment for the opportunity of self-lead learning.  While Jakks Pacific says that the Scanopedia is for ages 3+, in my experience, children 5 years and younger may find it frustrating to work with on their own.  However, as we all know very well, each child is different and while one child may be frustrated looking for a particular animal on the somewhat crowded map, another child will have a blast exploring every single animal that they can find.  The additional packs of Smart Animals vary in price, so I’d recommend trying one of the cheaper packs to see how your child likes the Scanopedia and then you can decide later if you want to collect them all.

4 out of 5 stars

Wall-E has been sent to Earth to gather up garbage, but he’s also been sent to a Jakks Pacific all-in-one TV Game. The Wall-E shaped controller plugs into any television and lets kids control both Wall-E and EVE as they look for hidden artifacts on Earth. There are also three mini-games that offer multiple levels of problem solving challenges.

Setup

As with all of the Jakks Pacific TV Games, it’s a very simple matter of plugging in two standard RCA cables, one for audio, one for video. The controller also needs 4 AA batteries, which are not included. Once turned on the game loads and is ready to go. Wall-E’s head acts as the joystick in this game, with the A and B control buttons on the left side. There’s also a menu button that can be missed, it’s disguised as Wall-E’s bug friend.

Gameplay

The main storyline in this game is Wall-E and EVE are exploring Earth for artifacts. Players get to control one character at a time, but can switch back and forth with the B button. Each character has different skills; Wall-E collects garbage and digs for artifacts, while EVE blows up barrels with the hope of revealing artifacts or garbage for Wall-E to gather.

The main Earth map is small though and controlling Wall-E and EVE gets repetitive pretty quickly. There’s only so much incentive to collect 10 garbage blocks (which gets Wall-E an artifact) with Wall-E or dig holes in the ground with the hopes of locating an artifact. EVE will also help Wall-E find artifacts by blasting metal drums and scanning the ground. To keep it interesting, every now and again there’s a storm and Wall-E has to get back to his trailer in 30 seconds or risk losing whatever he has collected.

Thankfully there are three mini-games included too, so there’s more to do. The mini-games are actually much better than the main game mostly because they require problem solving skills rather than repetitive motion. There are many levels to play and two difficulties. Even the easy levels offer a lot of challenge though, so much so that most kids are going to need parental assistance to complete them. And in some cases parents will need additional parental assistance as well.

Trash Dash

In Trash Dash players control EVE as she helps clear a path for Wall-E. EVE has to pick up and drop the appropriate shaped concrete blocks into place so Wall-E can cross. She’s also responsible for blasting walls out of the way. Wall-E never stops or slows down, so this one is fast-paced and challenging. We had a few 5 and 6 year-olds take a crack at these games and they both struggled after the first few easy levels. In fact, it took me several attempts to pass one of the higher easy levels as EVE has to blast a wall immediately.

Players have under a second to react and immediately start button mashing to get past the level.
We really like the problem solving needed to beat this game, and if you do, there’s an artifact awarded after completing all the easy and hard levels. But even on easy, this is best for kids that are probably 7-8 or older. It’s very fast-paced and younger kids will need to get a parent to help.

Solar Solver

Players control Wall-E in this puzzle game. Wall-E must drag or push puzzle pieces made of trash to form a designated shape. There’s an on-screen radar to help locate the pieces and EVE is available to give a hint three times. The hints are helpful as they show how the puzzle goes together, but they’re brief, so even with a hint a good memory is required.

There’s also a time limit, making this game tough as well. Kids who like puzzles will really enjoy this game. The pieces don’t need to be rotated, so if kids drag all the pieces near the center, they should be able to manipulate them into the right shapes. Again though, this one skews toward older kids. Our younger test kids were able to complete the first few levels, then the game became too difficult.

Axiom Adventure

This is our favorite of the mini games. Players control Wall-E and EVE as they work together to get past Stewards, laser alarms and obstacles. Kids will have to figure out which character to use to accomplish certain tasks, then switch back and forth to get both to safety. This game has no time limit, but instead requires logic and problem solving. The harder levels may require help, but even younger kids should be able to remain at the controls with some coaching.

Bottom Line

We’re somewhat conflicted about the Wall-E TV Game. We like the challenge of the mini games and think they’re great for kids in the 7-8 age range, or even older, since there are two difficulty levels. It’s also not bad for parents who want to play along with their kids as they try to figure out the puzzles. The main Earth map though is repetitive and after a few minutes of exploring will be boring for kids advanced enough to handle the mini-games. If kids just pick up pieces as they drive between the mini games, they’ll pile up the artifacts quickly enough though. For the price, there’s enough enjoyment here, but as a parent, you should expect to be involved in helping with this game.

3 out of 5 stars

Jakks Pacific is well-known for their line of TV Games. They’re simple to use, just plug two cords into almost any TV, add batteries and you’re ready to go. While setting up the game is simple, not everyone will find the questions in Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? to be so easy. Modeled after the television show, gamers get to either show their skills or hang their head in defeat as they answer trivia questions out of kid’s textbooks.

Gameplay

The game is an adaptation of the popular television show. Much like the game show, you are challenged to answer questions that are straight out of textbooks from first through fifth grade. Questions cover science, math, geography, history and many other categories.

When the game starts, you can select a student to help you out. If you miss a question and your student gets it correct, they save you and you stay in the game. You also get two cheats, where you can take your student’s answer or peek at their answer to decide if you want to use it. It’s important that you try to leverage your student properly though, as each one has an area of strength, making them better suited to answer some questions than others.

The gameplay moves along fast enough and generally only requires the A button and D-pad, making it very easy to use. Players can opt for quick play which gets you into the game right away, or play with a profile, which records the scores and stats for up to five players. 

In addition to the main game, there are three bonus games. Stay in School lets you flip over cash amounts while trying to avoid the flunked out message. The game says the cash is added to your total, but there’s no way to save the amount to a profile, so the game isn’t very engaging or useful. In Survival Quiz you try to answer 5 questions in 20 seconds. So not only do you have the pressure of answering questions from kids textbooks, but you have to answer them quickly. This game is actually pretty fun and a nice departure from the longer main game. The last bonus game is called Back to School where you play as a student. This one also adds variety and is a worthwhile addition.

While the game is designed for one player use, it’s definitely more fun played with a group. One of the most appealing parts of the game show is the ridicule from the stands when questions are missed. And on your own there’s just not enough trash talk from Jeff Foxworthy. So playing with a group of friends or family really adds to the fun. That’s really where this game shines, in the group setting. Firing it up after a family dinner, or with friends over is the best use.

Bottom Line

Kids might enjoy playing this one, if only to remind their parents how much they’ve forgotten since Elementary School. But Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? really excels when a bunch of friends or family crowd around to cheer (or harass) each person as they take their turn. For $20-25 it’s pretty easy to get enough entertainment out of the game to make it a worthwhile buy.

4 out of 5 stars