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Rockett’s Adventure Maker By Pam Gleichman Tribune Media Services In Rockett’s Adventure Maker, you'll create your own Whistling Pines Jr. High School girl by choosing from five cartoon-like body types, 25 faces, eight skin tones, 30 hairstyles and 10 outfits (with several colors and patterns to choose from). Each new character gets a page in the yearbook that you can fill with their likes, dislikes, secrets etc. You can also find out about the 13 girls at Whistling Pines who are already in the yearbook. With the "Make an Adventure" feature, you bring your characters and the Purple Moon characters together to create scenes. There are 29 Rockett series scenes to use as story starters. Alternatively, you can choose from 32 backgrounds, 60 props and 14 thought bubbles to create your scenes. Adventures can be saved in JPEG file format to send to friends. They can also be printed as comic strips or as prop and background magnets. The program also includes magnet-making materials and a two-sided magnetic stage. Initially, some of our girl testers thought the program was "cool". However, they soon became bored with the program. Rockett's Adventure Maker is limiting. The program is really like making a comic strip rather than an adventure. There is no animation and the space provided on each frame is very small. It is hard to fit more than one character, prop or speech bubble in the provided square. For this age group, (8 to 12), girls need more of a creative outlet. Publisher : Purple Moon, 1091 Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, Calif. 94043, http://www.purple-moon.com , (650) 526-5090. Category : Friendship adventure for girls. Age : 8 to 12. Installation : Easy. Use : Easy. We did experience some difficulty fitting the characters into the "scenes." Graphics : Cute. Written Materials : An adventure guide is included in the CD jacket. Also included is Rockett magnets, a magnetic board, cardboard sheets, magnet squares, an erasable pen (to write captions on Rockett magnets) and a stand. Refills can be ordered at the Web site. System Requirements : Windows 486DX/66 MHz, Windows 95 or 98, 16 MB RAM, 15 MB available hard disk space, SVGA graphics, 16-bit Windows compatible sound card, 2X CD-ROM drive, mouse, speakers, printer (optional); supports most color or monochrome Windows-compatible printers. Macintosh -- Power PC, System 7.1, 16 MB RAM (12 available), 15 MB available hard disk space, 256 color monitor, 2X CD-ROM drive, speakers, printer (optional); supports most color or monochrome Mac-compatible printers. Tested Version : Windows 95/98/Macintosh CD ROM. Rating : Two stars. Rockett’s Adventure Maker might appeal to some girls. Program content and replay value, however, are limited. DEAR PAM : Our daughter, 10, is very smart and we would like to choose some good computer programs for her. What do you recommend? DEAR READER : Math for the Real World by Davidson, Logical Journey of the Zoombinis by Broderbund, Smart Games by Hasbro, Roller Coaster Tycoon by Hasbro, and Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego by Broderbund. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK THE OFFICIAL SITE OF STAR WARS http://www.starwars.com This site has everything you want to know about Episode I, Episode IV, V, and VI of "Star Wars." The making of Episode I shows every angle with behind-the-scenes video footage of the cast and crew bringing "Star Wars: Episode I" to the big screen. You will also find about your favorite characters, the crew, trivia and more. RATING KEY : ***** — Outstanding; **** — Very Good; *** — Good; ** — Fair; * — Not Worth Purchasing. Pam Gleichman welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to Pam at Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Send e-mail to [email protected] . � 1999 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA