Playhouse Disney: Rolie Polie Olie -- The Search for Spot: Information from Answers.com Mobile

Playhouse Disney: Rolie Polie Olie -- The Search for Spot

Release Date: November 06, 2001
Genre: Educational
Style: General Early Childhood
Similar Games: Playhouse Disney: Stanley Tiger Tales (Hybrid PC/Mac), Playhouse Disney: The Book of Pooh -- A Story Without a Tail (Hybrid PC/Mac), Playhouse Disney: The Wiggles -- Wiggly Party (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

Playhouse Disney: Rolie Polie Olie -- The Search for Spot combines education with entertainment as children aged two to five years explore the automated Rolie house featured on The Disney Channel computer animated program. Goal-oriented and open-ended gameplay is supplemented by an easy-to-use interface with "clickable" screen hot spots designed for early PC users.

Early learning skills focus on colors and combinations, creating music, mapping through exploration, sharing, cooperation, problem solving, visualization, and spatial relationships. Gameplay centers on helping the boy robot Olie search for Spot and features 3D models and animation from the TV show. Additional Rolie Polie Olie features (games, music, activities, and books), as well as parent's guides, are available at the official Disney online website at www.disney.go.com/disneychannel/playhouse/rpo/.

~ Michael L. House, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Playhouse Disney: Rolie Polie Olie -- The Search for Spot is a sweet introduction to early learning skills for fans of the television series. Despite some nagging flaws, the game manages to satisfy its objectives of educating and entertaining children ages two-five in a fun and familiar environment.

The 3D graphics and voices look and sound the same as the television program, but some graphics are a bit grainy and pixelated, especially cut-scenes that play upon completion of an activity. The sound is choppy in places, and is completely garbled and unintelligible when Olie is in the kitchen and his sister Zowie comments on food taken from the refrigerator. Though not a show-stopping problem, the unintelligible dialogue is quite annoying. Many of Olie's lines, while understandable, are so repetitive that adults may well toggle the sound off after hearing him shout "You're the bestest!" for the 200th time.

Despite these issues, gameplay is quite good. The activities seem suited to the intended age range and the objectives are well taught. According to the manual, the four main activities include three difficulty levels, though, in reality, one doesn't. The skill levels do offer enough diversity for added replay value, evidenced by the "Crayon Crisscross Game" where players catch crayons as they bounce past and then color matching bubbles on Olie's coloring mat. The easy level consists of red, blue, and yellow crayons and bubbles, green is added at the medium level (also the combination of blue and yellow), and the hard level introduces orange and purple, with primary colors combinable to form others.

Navigation is made simple in deference to the age range of players, with gameplay featuring an easy interface dependent on screen elements that can be activated with a simple click of the mouse. The goal-oriented tasks seem like entertainment as kids explore the automated Rolie house while searching for Spot. Lessons focus on sharing and problem solving while developing an appreciation for music and colors through open-ended gameplay.