Disney Doozies With Sound

Three fine educational games from Disney Software lead off the firm’s new Mickey Mouse series for the youngest computer audience (ages 2 to 5). They are designed to teach kids some basic skills and to introduce a simple, inexpensive add-on sound system that Disney hopes to make further use of in future releases.

The Sound Source system has potential and adds a nice game playing dimension, but the hardware we received was defective.

In “Mickey’s 123’s: The Big Surprise Party” counting skills are learned while planning a birthday party. Each action involves choosing a number from the keyboard, seeing the number on the screen and hearing the number repeated. Once a number is chosen, the lesson is illustrated with a delightful animated sequence.

“Mickey’s Colors & Shapes: The Dazzling Magic Show” and “Mickey’s ABC’s: A Day At the Fair” use the same conventions of choosing a key to drive the action. “Colors & Shapes” includes a keyboard overlay of geometric shapes and colors.

These games can be played alone or with an adult. The manuals offer suggestions for keeping the games fun while increasing learning and teaching skills. Ideas for continuing the lessons away from the computer are also included.

While the $34.95 Sound Source is optional, you lose much of the charm of the games without it. Compatible only with Disney’s most recent releases, the speaker plugs into the parallel port where you currently plug in your printer. You can plug your printer into the Sound Source adapter plug like a string of Christmas lights. But our printer wouldn’t work with the Sound Source. Disney’s customer service folks diagnosed a bad adapter and offered to replace it.

MICKEY’S GAMES

Rating: * * *

IBM, compatibles, Tandy; 8mhz XT required; 512K IBM/640K Tandy. List: $49.95 each; all three in combo pack for $69.95.

Computer games are rated on a five-star system, from one star for poor to five for excellent.