ARTHUR'S TEACHER TROUBLES

A review by Sandy Kettenhofen
CompuServe 75020-512

Copyright RIPC © 1993
Resource International Publishing Company
Route 1, Box 168
Milford, TX 76670
CompuServe 70053,1502


System Requirements: MacIntosh LC-II Series, CD-ROM, System 6.0.7 or higher, 256 Color, 4M RAM

Another great interactive CD-ROM package has come to us from Broderbund Software.  Arthur's Teacher Troubles icludes the CD-ROM version of the book by Marc Brown as well as the softcover book itself.  The story as presented on the CD-ROM can be viewed and heard in either English or Spanish.  There are two ways to view the story.  You are provided with a choice between having the story read exactly as it appears in the book or you can "play" the story.  If you choose to "play" then as each page is turned the words from the book are read after which you have access to all of the different characters and items on the screen.   

Arthur's Teacher Troubles is a story with which school children of any age can easily identify.  The story itself is a simple tale of Arthur who finds that he has a new teacher at school.  The actual storyline is appealing but the real charm of this CD-ROM is the wonderful presentation.  The interaction that allows the viewer to "make things happen" by pointing to and clicking on different items on the page is fascinating.  Virtually every piece of scenery as well as all the characters perform when accessed by the viewer.  Every item comes to life and sings, dances or delivers a surprising sound or action.   The sound is very clear and easily understood.  Several of the items provide a short song and the voices are in beautiful harmony.  The graphics are smooth and most often accompanied by great sound effects.

There is a slight downside to this presentation.  It takes anywhere from 10 to 40 seconds to access the next "page" due to the sheer magnitude of the memory required to run this program.  Broderbund has evidently realized this and dealt with this slow scene change.  Instead of showing an idle wristwatch while waiting for the next scene there is a tiny little outline of a person who appears to be running across the screen.  Even though it is more interesting to watch this little figure than a blank screen it does seem to take a long time to get to the next page.  The younger children especially loose interest or get impatient for the next page to come along.

Arthur's Teacher Troubles is a wonderful treat for children of all ages.  A nice story and an absolutely delight to "play" with each page.

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Published by: Broderbund Software, Inc.  500 Redwood Blvd., Novato CA  94948-6121.  1-800-521-6263.