Orly's Draw-A-Story as reviewed by Super Kids Educational
Software Review
from Broderbund
For Ages 5 to 10
See also the Summary Rating Table for comparisons with other Art software titles,
and the
SuperKids Buyers Guide for current market prices of the PC and MAC versions.
Reviewed on:
PowerMAC 6100/60 with 8MB and 2XCD
Pentium133 with 16MB and a 12X
Content of orly's draw-a-story
Not the average drawing and painting program, orly's
draw-a-story is best described as a total entertainment
package. Every scene contains humor and personality. Set in
Jamaica, the user is initially introduced to Orly, an adorable
young waif with a lilting Jamaican accent, and her
frog-sidekick, Lance, who sums up most situations by saying
"Ribbit-man." They invite the child to venture with them into
one of four storybooks as a partial illustrator/animator, or to
create and illustrate the user's own, original story.
Each of the stories begins with narration by Orly. As the story progresses,
it reaches a point where the user is
asked to create either a character or a prop to be used in the further telling
of the story. At this point, a drawing
pad containing a few basic elements of the picture to be created appears (such
as a monster's eyes, or a
boat's steering apparatus), accompanied by basic drawing tools: pencils, paints,
eraser, and textures and
patterns. A special screen can be opened to reveal a number of pre-made drawings
which can be used as-is,
or modified. At no point is the user confined to accept these drawings; they
can be endlessly manipulated and
made into unique illustrations. When the drawing is complete, it is incorporated
into the next section of
animated story. This process continues with the user completing a sequence of
pictures to create a cumulative
story which can be saved and watched again from start to finish. Each of the
drawings can also be printed.
One of the many fun twists to this extraordinary program is that its insightful
creators anticipated what a child
might do at various places in the program. They then choreographed their characters
to interact appropriately
with the user. The result is a cast of virtual friends that seem amazingly real.
At one point, for example, the user
is given a pair of eyes and asked to create a sea monster. The eyes track the
drawing process and comment
on it's completion. One of our child reviewers got annoyed with the comments
of the monster-to-be, and poked
it in the eye. "Don't poke me!" was its startling response.
Ease of Install / Use of orly's draw-a-story
The program installed with no problem on our MAC and Win95 test machine; WIN
3.1 users reported that
the installer had difficulty setting up the program if they had already used
the maximum 40 program groups in
Program Manager.
For users too independent to look at the manual, the program offers an on-screen
tutorial that covers all the
young user needs to know. The manual extends this information, with away from
the computer activity
suggestions.
Proxy Parent Value of orly's draw-a-story
Proxy parent value is SuperKids' measure for how well a program captures and
holds a child's attention. On
this measure, Orly is a clear winner. "Limitless hours of creative play
can be had from this astonishingly clever
program," said one of our parent reviewers. "The wonderful graphics
and fun characters alone will hold most
children's attention for quite awhile." Each personality is unique and
well-developed. There is plenty to discover
and enjoy in this program, and it is so well done that it can be rediscovered
again and again without becoming
stale.
orly's draw-a-story is best for...
Orly is best for the creative child who can appreciate the program's humor and
originality, and benefit from the
artistic opportunities it offers. Young children will like its bright colors
and fun characters, but may not
understand many of the program's nuances, and might even have some trouble deciphering
the speech of the
Jamaican characters.
Bottom-Line for orly's draw-a-story
This program abounds with unexpected surprises and delights. (Draw a submarine
and paint it yellow, and
hear a reggae version of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine"). If a beckoning
voice awakens the user in the
middle of the night its not likely to be poltergeists but rather a virtual Orly
and her talented Broderbund creators.
Like Us
(888) 881-6001 