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I Spy Fantasy
 I Spy Fantasy is the third I Spy game I've sampled, and the second one I've reviewed after I Spy Spooky Mansion. I Spy Fantasy is very similar to the other games so young players who have played them will feel right at home. Even fans of the I Spy books will be happy.
So it is more of the same, which means of course, that it's more of the same fun as well. And there's also that layer of learning mixed in, and mixing learning and fun is surely a good recipe!
Aimed at children aged 5 - 10, I Spy Fantasy is simple point and click. The opening screen asks the player to enter their name and there are number of slots for different players to have their game saved separately. I Spy Fantasy saves automatically when you quit (and picks up again in exactly the same spot when you return) so children will have no problems with this feature.
The graphics are excellent. They are clear, detailed, and brightly coloured, inviting young players to join in, with some well chosen accompanying music and sound effects too. There are essentially 3 'adventures': one with an underwater fishy flavour, another with a medieval castle, and the last with a rocket ship and a science fiction feel. Each 'adventure' has 6 locations or I Spy screens to search and each one also has an ultimate objective. In the undersea world, collect up the pages of the mermaid's book to find her treasure; in the medieval world, find the 5 keys to open the dungeon and free the princess; and in the space world, collect the fuel crystals to power up the space ship.
 Just select an 'adventure' and there are some colourful transitional locations to admire before clicking on various objects such as chests, boats, and paintings to access the I Spy screens. In their turn these screens are jam packed with all kinds of objects... stars and cars, and gems and pens, (I've caught the rhyming bug here). This is where a rhyming 'riddle' is narrated and written below the picture. In the text each named object can be selected individually to hear the words read aloud and players will need to refer to this list to complete the hunt. Sometimes the riddle may direct the player to find a simple object, but at other times it might be a more complex instruction such as find the 'gem that is green', the' two white stars'. or the 'biggest eye'... so paying attention is essential.
Each screen requires a diligent search. Although some objects are easy to find, others are deviously hidden as shadows, or as etchings in brickwork or shapes in the clouds. Still others might have to be 'moved' by the hand icon to correspond to the instructions such as find 'four marbles in a row', and the young player might even be challenged to find his or her own name, or another word or phrase hidden somewhere in the picture.
On completing the I Spy screens for each 'adventure' there is an extra step to take to fulfil the final objective. For instance, follow the clues through a number of locations to find the mermaid's treasure, fix the circuit board in the Rocket Ship, and in the medieval world there are the ingredients for a spell to collect to dispense with the fire breathing dragon.
There is some replayability in I Spy Fantasy too, as there are 3 or 4 difficulty levels with the riddles changing each time. Add this to the lessons in comprehension, and in reading and word recognition, plus a little practice in maintaining concentration, and you can't complain.
Because of the similarities with other I Spy Games, I Spy Fantasy might not deliver enough variety for some kids, but it's certainly entertaining and perfect for I Spy fans, and for a rainy day. I tested one 'adventure' accompanied by 7 year old Mark, and he did need a few 'prods' to find some of the objects, (and so did I for a couple of them). So players at the lower end of the recommended age group will likely need help. Mark's enthusiasm for the game didn't dampen though. It was a huge treat to finally fix the circuit board and send off that space ship.
Copyright © Rosemary Young 2005.
All rights reserved.
System Requirements:
Pentium II 266 MHz or faster, Win 95./98, 2000, Me, XP, 32 MB RAM, minimum 20 MB hard disk space, 8X CD-ROM drive, 16-bit color, Windows-compatible sound card.
iMac/G3 233 MHz or faster, System 8.6 - 9.2.2; OS X 10.1.2 or later, 32 MB RAM. minimum 20 MB hard disk space, 24X CD-ROM drive, 16-bit color.
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