This interactive adventure is based on the "Rescue Heroes" Saturday morning television series and the Fisher-Price action-figure collection of the same name. Users are invited to join the team of heroes in an exciting and rewarding rescue endeavor.
The adventure itself takes place at the Rescue Heroes training center. Here, trainees participate in a tropical storm simulation. A hurricane strikes the imaginary town of Metro Bay, and Rescue Heroes must race to save the townspeople, animals and buildings. As a trainee, the user is led through a series of 5 activities through which he will learn necessary rescue techniques. Mastery of each activity earns the user a printable accomplishment badge. When all 5 badges have been earned, Rescue Hero training is complete.
Educational Value
The educational benefits to Hurricane Havoc are minimal. As the program opens, kids learn about tropical storms, and simulations. Beyond this point, learning is confined to early keyboarding skills (pointing and clicking, and mouse manipulation) and a few reminders about safety rules. Training missions resemble arcade games more than learning activities, and situations are tightly controlled so that problem-solving is almost non-existent.
Kid Appeal
Rescue Heroes appeals most to users in the younger portion of the recommended age range. The 3D graphics are nicely done, and the characters and situations awe inspiring for young heroes-in-the-making, however the activities themselves are, for the most part, overly simplified and quickly mastered by all but the youngest users. Not surprisingly, those activities that require the greatest amount of hands-on manipulation were the most highly rated by our testers. Of particular enjoyment was the "Air Pilot" activity, which asks kids to navigate a helicopter around the city, putting out various fires as charted on a grid-map. When the fire appears in the user's cross-hairs, s/he clicks on a button to release the water that puts out the flames.
Ease of Use / Install
Hurricane Havoc installs with ease. The program runs best when the user's computer is set at 256-color graphics display -- those users whose display is set otherwise are advised to quit the program and change settings before continuing.
Program navigation is relatively straightforward, and activities are simple and quite tightly confined so that most can be easily accomplished without instruction.
Best for... / Bottom-Line
Despite the popular characters and themes featured in Hurricane Havoc, it is only a mediocre program. The activities are overly simplified and provide little if any educational stimulation. Unless the prospective user is a die-hard "Rescue Heroes" fan, we recommend the purchase of other, equally enjoyable but more educational, titles.
PC:
Windows 95/98,
IBM PC or compatible, 486/66MHz or faster cpu,
17 MB hard drive space,
16 MB RAM,
256 color, 640x480 display,
Quad-speed or faster CD-ROM,
Sound Blaster or compatible 16-bit sound card,
QuickTime (included).
Mac:
System 7.5.1 or higher,
Power PC or faster cpu,
17 MB hard drive space,
16 MB RAM,
256-color display,
Quad-speed or faster CD-ROM.
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