JumpStart Spelling

Yo guys you can get this game off Archive.org for free

I gave this game a whirl out of curiosity. I believe this game comes from a time after all the classic JumpStart games were already finished, and the company switched focus to making cheaper games that could be sold at a lower price point. So if you're looking for an adventure game with lots of different challenges and opportunities for exploration, just toss out those expectations out right now.

This game really only does one thing, and doesn't pretend to do anything else. Run through a bunch of levels, pick up tablets and spell words. With dinosaurs. Every time you complete a level, you get a funny animated scene, and then move on to the next until you get to the end, and then you start over with different words. There's not much challenge beyond spelling words and no room for open-ended exploration.

As a CD-ROM game, it doesn't really live up to the impressive standards of its predecessors, but it's probably perfect for young children who have been raised on pre-loaded iPads who enjoy simple, repetitive games with no risk or stress. It's too bad this game wasn't made for pre-loaded iPads. (But it probably could have been; the only time the player needs to use a keyboard is to type in a name. Everything else in this game is entirely mouse-controlled).