Serious fun - Software Review - educational and family entertainment software - MECC's My Own Stories; Edmark's Bailey's Book House; Microsoft Corp.'s Dinosaurs CD-ROM; Humongous Entertainment's Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise; Broderbund Software's Kid Cuts; Bright Star Technology's Beginning Reading; Amtex's Eight Ball Deluxe; Interplay's The Lost Vikings; LucasArt Entertainment Co.'s Day of the Tentacle - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1993 by Steve Morgenstern, Robi Zocher, Steve Holzinger, Carol Otto, Juline Lambert, Genevieve Kazdin

The idea of finishing a project by hand, away from the computer, was foreign to my kids at first. But once they caught on, they were captivated for days. There has been more use of our art supply box since we got Kid Cuts than I have seen in years.

I love to see my children using the computer, but it has been a refreshing change to see a program that actually encourages them to move on to other related activities. I highly recommend this package. Just be sure to stock up on art supplies, lay in a few reams of paper, and grab the camcorder... you'll want it on hand.

Beginning Reading

Rating: ***

Bright Star Technology, 1209) 683-4468, (800) 326-6654, $43

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 4MB 286 PC or higher; hard-disk drive; DOS 3.1 or higher and Windows 3.1; VGA or SVGA; sound card. Also available for the Mac.

Beginning Reading (formerly Ready, Set, Read), a part of the Dream Team series, includes several well-thought-out games complete with words and letters that help youngsters think of reading as fun.

The animated stars of the program are Bananas and Jack (a chimpanzee and a jack-in-the-box), who make congenial pals for the games. Their voices are clear and easily understandable as they lead the way through alphabetizing practice, recognition of two-letter sounds, matching rhymes, and other reading readiness techniques. The animation software synchronizes speech to onscreen facial movement, which somehow makes the speech easier to understand and the characters more real. With kindness and enthusiasm they greet each attempt, successful or not, with appropriately encouraging comments. And if there's no response from the child, Bananas and Jack volunteer help.

When the child wins a game, animated surprises cavort across the screen and fireworks erupt. These giggle-producing sequences are real rewards for work well done.

A child just beginning to learn to read may also be a computer newcomer. Clicking and dragging are essentials for controlling the program, so parents will need to help the child until these skills are well learned. Parents also have the option of setting preferences to control the music, speed with which the program is presented, and even the pronunciation of, say, the letter Z (for households where "zed" is said).

With good music, fine animation, and excellent interactivity, this program will make a strong contribution to a child's desire to learn.

ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE

Eight Bell Deluxe

Rating: *** 1/2

Amtex, (6131 967-7900, $60

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: IMB 386 PC or higher; hard-disk drive; VGA or SVGA; sound card recommended. Also available for the Mac.

Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver bail. And those folks at Amtex sure make a mean pinball.

The company mastered its digital pinball skills by creating Tristan, a beautifully designed simulation with extremely lifelike ball-bouncing, flipper-tapping physics that's still available and well worth playing. But after winning awards and selling warehouses full of Tristan, what could it do for an encore?