Dora Saves The Crystal Kingdom Wii

[Vicki Patolot]

Its time to ride the rainbow towards a magical land in the Dora saves the Crystal Kingdom game! The Greedy King has stolen all the colorful gems, and they're nowhere to be found. Now, Dora the Explorer must go after him and bring back the missing treasure. Can you help her bring back the color to the Crystal Kingdom?

Let's begin the adventure! Your goal for this quest is to find the lost gemstones and restore peace to the land. To do this, you'll have to prove your skills at three different missions and take down the King. Are you confident you can overcome all challenges and save the day?

Welcome to the Crystal Kingdom! To guide Dora around and complete the quests, you'll need to use your mouse. Click on the correct elements, break the rocks, and find the missing letters. To face the Greedy King, you'll have to click on the magical wands and use your powers to defeat him!

For your first mission, the yellow crystal is hidden inside a cliff. To find it, you'll have to help the Dragon break all the stones. However, each rock has a number on it, and you'll have to destroy them in the correct order before you can reveal the treasure. Show off your counting skills and overcome the quest to move on to the next challenge!

For the second objective, you'll have to visit a dark cave. The crystal is hidden in one of the cocoons, and you must match them all to the words below. The first letters are missing, so you have to pick them from the items in front of you. Don't worry if you make a mistake, and keep trying until you select all the correct answers!

Finally, it's time to face the King! You have to use your magic wand and take down the enemy to obtain the red crystal. Keep your eyes on the light beam, and select the right color to fight against the villain. Keep up the battle long enough, and the treasure will be yours!

Dora teaches Spanish words and phrases constantly and asks kids to repeat words to help them retain what they've learned. Other preschool skills -- like matching, colors, and counting -- are integrated into the shows.

The main feature teaches that some things are for everyone to share -- like the colors of the kingdom. These lessons can easily translate into messages about taking care of the environment, being good library users, and generally thinking about others.

Parents need to know that this collection of three distinct Dora stories fits right into the kind of cheerful, positive material we expect from the ubiquitious bilingual girl and her animal friends. Dora and friends fight selfishness with cooperation, and encourage young viewers to participate in the process by speaking or moving along with the characters on the screen. The show encourages kids to repeat words or phrases, sometimes loudly, in the process of teaching Spanish words and phrases. Children will be subtly exposed to the concept of an onscreen cursor and the click sound that accompanies a selection. The main story has also been converted into a Wii game for preschoolers. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.

This DVD contains one longer feature and two shorts. The title feature involves a story about a greedy king who steals the crystals that keep the kingdom colorful. Dora and her friends enter into the tale, and set off on four mini-adventures (or chapters) to retrieve the crystals and teach the king a lesson about sharing. In one chapter, Dora and friends gain butterfly wings and must flap them (along with the viewer) to reach their destination and save a crystal. The shorter features are similar to each other and involve reaching three distinct steps to solve a problem. The first one finds Dora walking Boots and Tico to their first day of school and encountering obstacles (like a river to cross) along the way. They use their English and Spanish to help them get to school. The second one involves too many bananas and a magical "wishing machine" that helps keep Boots' desires in check.

The familiar and charming Dora elements are ever-present in this offering, and kids will be delighted, as usual. Dora and her friends have captivated preschool audiences by being incessantly upbeat and cultivating interaction between kids and the screen. Parents, on the other hand, may tire of the semi-shrill voices of Dora and the others, as well as the constant repetition encouraged by the show, which kids might continue long after the TV is off.

Families can talk about wanting things for oneself. Why did the king want the color crystals all for himself? Are there toys or things that you want to keep all to yourself? When is it OK to keep things for yourself and when is it important to share? Can you remember times when it was hard for you to share?

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