Producer: Mirrorsoft
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £9.95
Age Group: 4-8yrs

The games in this package are based on the popular Roger Hargreaves 'Mr Men' characters, which are very appealing to young children and are ideal for use in conjunction with the many books available in the series. The educational aim of this program, as stated in the 'Notes for Parents' is: "...to lead children in an amusing and stimulating way from 'Go that way' (pointing), to'Move to your right' (my left)...." There are four different games in the package. In the first one, 'Mr Tickle's Jigsaw Puzzle', the player has to complete a simple jigsaw using the arrow keys; the other games are of increasing levels of difficulty, and build up to the point where the child has to be able to distinguish between left and right.

The games make a worthy attempt at teaching the concepts of up, down, right and left, and are certainly an enjoyable way of teaching and reinforcing them. Although they are aimed at children from 4 years upwards, younger children would also enjoy working on them with the help of a parent. It is doubtful, however, whether children of 7 or 8 would be very receptive to the games, as some of them are not particularly difficult. Daniel, (my Chief Tester) particularly enjoyed the 'Mr Tickle and Mr Grumpy' game in which the player can make the task as difficult (interesting) as he wishes by inputting commands which determines the complexity and length of the route taken by Mr Tickle. Daniel, however, who is a bright child, found the other games rather too easy.

COMMENTS

Control keys: moves from arrow keys to L, R, U, D. ENTER and DELETE are also used.
Keyboard play: very good
Use of colour: very bright and clear
Graphics: very good. The Mr Men characters translate well into into computer graphics.

HO, HO, HO

MAKER: Mirrorsoft
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £7.95

Before I begin, I'd like to point out that there is no particular reason why the Reviews Ed should hand me a Mr. Men game that teaches left from right and is clearly marked 'For Ages 4-8'. Just because I fell into his desk five times last week doesn't mean that I am directionally dyslexic. He should learn to keep his drawers closed.

Assuming that your are of the right age are a Mr. Men fan, have a younger sibling in mind - or are simply a dimbo - Here and There is a well crafted and cheerful educational compilation. There are four short and simple programs with clear, FAT, Mr Men sprites and a booklet containing easy-to-follow instructions. Each section is more complex than the last, and requires increased planning and thinking ahead to obtain the reward (an animated sequence).

The first shows pieces of a puzzle which must be aligned exactly before they spin together to reveal a portrait of Mr. Tickle. We then progress to a bit of route planning. You must guide the Tickle chappie's arm through the geography of Mt. Grumpy's house. This is done by tapping in a series of commands in advance (left, right, up, down etc). When you hit 'enter', Mr Tickle's arm will speed round the corners and tickle Mr. Grumpy making him convulse with laughter. Ho, ho, ho.

The last sequence is a game of draughts played with Mr. Men as pieces. Again you direct your players with left and right commands.

Altogether a solid piece of worthyware from Mirrorsoft. Hang -n - perhaps Here and There was created with Mr. Maxwell in mind? He also seems to have problems distinguishing left from right!