Disney’s Goofy, Ducky Puzzle

In Disney Computer Software’s “Mickey’s Jigsaw Puzzles,” children will find a contemporary substitute for the dusty old box puzzles.

Fifteen different puzzles showing Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald enjoying the good life will tempt the most jaded youngster.

Players can choose from the library of available pictures and then break it up into various combinations of pieces. The selections of four to 64 shaped or square pieces and a silhouette option provide a wide range of difficulty levels.

Instead of breaking the entire puzzle into small pieces, in the silhouette version selected objects in the picture are left blank to be filled with the appropriate puzzle piece.

Puzzle pieces can be assembled against the background of a shaped grid or blindly arranged on a blank screen similar to the old-fashioned kitchen table method. If you really want to help torture a young mind, turn off the grid and make all the pieces square.

However you do it, the reward of completing a puzzle is a charming animation sequence. Although Mickey and Minnie tend to stick to traditional gender roles, it’s fun to see Minnie come to life as a gymnast and a tennis ace while Mickey pitches a fast ball or makes a touchdown.

You know you’re at Disney when you hear Mickey’s authentic-sounding voice coming through Disney’s optional Sound Source attachment ($39.95). Other sound options are supported, but the voice is more distinct and realistic on the Sound Source.

With its release of “Mickey’s Jigsaw Puzzles” Disney has eliminated copy protection from its games.

Priced a little steeply for a single child, there are still many hours of game play available. Children too young to use the computer can still enjoy coloring printed versions of the puzzles. Children too old (or too cool) can have contests against the clock.

Mickey’s Puzzles

Rating:****

IBM & compatibles, Tandy; 512K RAM (640K with 256 color VGA); List price: $49.95. Combo pack with SoundSource: $69.95.

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