Too C.O.O.L.: Volume 2

The Good
I really, genuinely, must applaud someone for trying to produce a child friendly, non-violent, fun CD for kids. I know there's a market for this kind of software and, while I personally am not convinced of it's value, I support the principle behind it.

The cartoon characters are well drawn and colourful. and the flash games are competently done. That's about it for the good points of the original work on this CD.

That leaves the demo games hidden away on a sub-menu. Here, for me, SimTunes was the pick of the bunch. It looked and felt original even though, in 2012, it's quite an old game. I passed a happy afternoon playing with the demo version.

The Bad
While I support the principles behind this software, in my opinion, though a worthy effort cannot succeed because it does not appeal to it's target audience. My children are reasonably normal so I'm told, yet I cannot see them ever, at any age, being entertained or amused by the content on this CD.

I played all the games supplied with a horrible kind of fascination thinking that I was missing something or that they must get better. I wasn't, they didn't.
I even played through the education bit which has to be experienced to be believed, and the Upchucks cartoon which I found to be well drawn but really, really awful.
How could anyone think this was a good idea! The games and the education stuff are competently done but they're not enjoyable. Where's the flair? Where's the challenge?. It's as though the whole thing was put together by a committee that believed fun=sin. It's like having oats and water for breakfast - wholesome but boring.

Where to start? Look at the games on offer here and consider that this CD was released in 2002, who at that time could consider a 'Guess the number' game as a 'cool' game with kid appeal?. As a way of teaching someone about a binary search it's just about OK but after two attempts the attraction is over.
'Table Tennis' cannot be expected to keep any kid entertained for more than a couple of minutes. You play until you miss a shot and then it's over. There's no save game, no score table, no fun.
Slider is about as dull as a game can be. Arrange numbered blocks in order. Then do it again. Then do it again and again trying to do it faster. Yawnsville!
Repeat: is a good looking Simon Says puzzle but it lacks all the fun and the Wow! factor that the original hand held game had.

There were great games out there in 2002 both on the PC and on the consoles. This stuff just does not compare or compete with any of them.

The Bottom Line
This software would suit a solitary child who is easily pleased and who is content with doing the same simple thing over and over again.