Star Wars Millenium Falcon Playset

Copyright: KBkids.com 1998

This new program allows your child to interact with the Star Wars characters through a playset which attaches to the keyboard much like the Tonka Workshop. This program may be too violent for younger children. There is nothing too gory, but much more shooting and killing than you would ever see in a program intended for five year olds. Proceed with caution if this is a problem for you.

Testers had quite a few technical problems with this program which were never resolved with tech support. A promised call from a supervisor never did come. There are known issues with the ATI Rage II video card. This program ran fine on a second computer, but proceed with caution if you know you have a temperamental machine.

Once you have strapped the playset on to your keyboard it is time to start the program. The playset is a cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. There are tons of great video clips from the original Star Wars series. They run fairly well on a computer with no special graphics capabilities. As in the movie, the ultimate goal is destruction of the Death Star. There are three sets of plans hidden throughout the cosmos, and it is your job to retrieve them. In order to do this, you must travel to all of the different planets shown on your map. On each planet, you will find up to four different 'missions' which must be completed. There is a reward for completing each mission, and sometimes this will be one of the sets of plans. Ultimately you need to place a torpedo in the Death Star and blow it sky high.

As you select each mission, you must first work your way through a battle simulation. These vary with each mission, but generally involve blowing up asteroids, space ships, or enemy Storm Troopers. There are times when you actually shoot storm troopers, they blow off the screen, and you see a very small amount of blood. For this reason, the suggested age of five and older seems questionable at best. A small picture of your playset is in the left corner of the screen. Different seats and buttons light up telling you where to push on the playset cockpit. The program comes with a Han Solo character, but you can also purchase Luke, C3PO, and R2D2. They are not needed to run the program. There is no real aiming, and very little skill needed to succeed. For that reason, older children and teens will bore quickly. The remainder of the mission involves more pushing on the right button when it lights up, and watching video clips. If you push on the right seat, or button, when told you may also watch the character on screen pick up an object which will be added to your inventory.

This program never really finds it's intended audience. It is too violent for some younger children, and too easy for older children and teens. Those who thoroughly enjoy the Star Wars movie, and would love to pretend to be in the Millennium Falcon will love it. Most others will be better off using their imagination with the playset and watching the videos.

Bottom Line: Innovative technology, but with a program that is too violent for younger kids and too easy for older kids.

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 2 1/2

BrainGain: 1 1/2

FunFactor: 2 1/2

EasePlease: 2 1/2

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