Powerpuff Girls – Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone
The presence of the Powerpuff Girls keeps this edutainment game movin'. Four different
activities provide practice in language skills, math and comprehension. Making correct
choices is the only way to combat the Mojo Jojo clone invasion.
Skyscraper Chaser - Filling in the correct solution in arithmetic equations will trap a MJ
clone. If the player gives the wrong answered – the equation is reordered. A clever way to
repose the question without it feeling boring and preachy. On one level – I found a glitch
where there weren't enough choices to provide a correct answer. I solved it by clicking
randomly until I got the next equation.
Letterbugs – Player must pluck out floating letters to make words and at the more
difficult level, antonyms and synonyms. All good fun.
Zap the Map – Uses polar coordinates to reach and destroy a MJ clone. Easy level
sharpens map reading, upper level adds interpretation of complex directions.
From Here to Lair – Broken field running - avoiding hazards and picking up power.
Codebreaker – Player changes words to match the code word and then uses it in a
sentence to reveals an embarrassing secret about MJ.
Lots of clever things in this one. The use of the Living Room as the activity hub. The tool
bar that is a hand set phone line. The girls saying, "I love power". The girls general "go
for it" attitude will win over even those who are not Powerpuff fans.
The game has a standard feature of The Learning Company's games - "auto leveling" -
which matches the difficulty level to the player's performance and keeps score. So as you
get better, it get harder. Doesn't seem quite fair does it? It can be turned off at any level.
It's fun to watch your brain work.
Editor Review 11/02
News flash: The Powerpuff Girls are tired of doing the same thing day after day after day. But when they turn on the TV in their own living room, they find out that Mojo Jojo has clones in the air, underground, and on the streets of Townsville. In The Powerpuff Girls in Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone, you help Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup save the day by collecting memory chips from Mojo Jojo's clones. You use the memory chips in the last game (Codebreaker) to defeat Mojo Jojo's evil scheme and save Townsville for the day.
You collect memory chips from each game on the CD. (You're on your own. You can't play this game with a friend.) There are three games: Zap the Map, Skyscraper Chaser, and Letterbugs.
Zap the Map is fun and interesting. I liked it because I like maps. In Zap the Map, you help Buttercup attack Mojo Jojo's clones. The clones are hidden underground, in higher levels, or in lower levels, the clones are wherever you can see them. You plot Buttercup's path to the clone with instructions you put in the Direction Box. You click on North, South, East or West and drag it to the Direction Box (to the left of the map). Once you've done that, you pick the number of miles Buttercup should go. The map has a grid drawn over it and each square is one mile.
Once you're done, click the Go button underneath the Direction Box, and Buttercup will go in the direction and for the number of miles you've said. If you were right, Buttercup lands on the clone, and the clone gets beaten up like he's never been beaten up before, and you get the clone's memory chip. If you were wrong, Buttercup will swing, but won't punch anything.
If you get tired of playing this game (or any of the games), and want to play a different game, just point your arrow to the end of the page on the right, and then the narrator will say "Back," and you click your mouse. That takes you to The Powerpuff Girls' Living Room. On their TV, you can click on whatever game you want to play.
The game I don't like is Letterbugs. In this game, you are Bubbles. A talking dog says a word, and you have to collect the yucky, disgusting pieces of garbage that have the right letters on them to spell the word. Look out for the garbage that aren't letters-like the hammers, glass, doors, and other stuff like that-because the Gangrene Gang throws stuff like that around to stop you. I don't like this game because it's boring and frustrating. You have to spell the word before too much garbage is on the ground. If that happens, you're poor little talking dog's machine will go away by the clone's magnet.
The music in this game sounds like the music from The Powerpuff Girls TV show, so I like it. The characters look just like the ones on the show, and the narrator's voice, and the talking dog, and everybody else sound just like they sound on the TV show. In other words, the graphics, music, and voices are terrific, fantastic, wonderful, and great. (Two thumbs up.)
If I made this CD, I would change the Letterbugs game. I would make it so the garbage never piled up too high, so you had as much time as you needed to spell the word. And if you were taking too long to spell the word, the talking dog would give you a hint. For example, if the word were "because," he'd help you by saying, "The first letter is 'B'" or "the last letter if 'E'" or "there is 'BE' in this word."
Note to the parents: This game is fun and educational for your kids, ages five up to ten. Kids, probably girls, will like it as long as they like Powerpuff Girls. And if you want your kids to like math, spelling, and maps-get this game for your kids.
Overall, I'd play The Powerpuff Girls in Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone again (and again) because it helps me on math skills, spelling skills, and map skills, and I really want my Mom to be happy about me learning-and this is a learning game.
Reviewed by: Callie K. Age 8 - 04/03
Ages: 6 – 10