Coloring Book Caper--It’s Easy to Stay Inside the Lines

Capstone, the self-proclaimed leader in licensing Hollywood movies for the home computer market, has brought out three new coloring books tied to recent movies. Two are based on animated features that are still playing in theaters, and the other is associated with one of the biggest megahits of the decade.

“Rock-A-Doodle” and “FernGully. . .The Last Rainforest” have several background scenes lifted directly from the artwork used to illustrate the movies. The characters are displayed separately from the background scenes and are also taken directly from the actual cartoon characters. The background scenes can be combined with any of the characters to create a large variety of coloring options.

“Home Alone, The Computerized Coloring Book” has pictures that have been translated directly from original movie scenes. Each scene includes background and one or two characters from the movie.

Pictures from all three games are colored with a point-and-click method. Point at a color, click the mouse. Point at a body part, click the mouse. Voila-- Kevin (“Home Alone”) has a green face. Mistakes are easily corrected with the “undo” button, but you can never go outside the lines.

That takes some of the fun out of it because, as this week’s consultant mother says: “Half the fun of coloring is a new box of crayons and getting to choose just the right one.” On the other hand, it is a simple way to help your youngest children get comfortable with a computer.

And, for die-hard coloring fans, the pictures can still be printed and colored by hand.

However, even with the $100 monthly prizes being offered for the Capstone Coloring Contest (through December) these are really expensive coloring books.

Coloring Books

Rating: **

IBM & compatibles, Amiga; 512K; mouse recommended. List Price: $29.95 (each)

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