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Music Games International-Alice in Vivaldi's Four Seasons Music Game Review by Anissa DeGrasse
www.kidsmusicstage.comP. O. Box 1376
Amherst, MA 01004
Tel. 877-877-1369
http://www.interactiveclassics.com/
Alice in Vivaldi's Four Seasons game is a computer game for ages 5-95. It is an interactive game that will introduce the player to musical instruments, the sounds they make and what part they play in a musical piece. The game combines music from Vavaldi's symphony The Four Seasons and Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland.
The game opens with a story about Alice who got lost inside a clock dropped by the White Rabbit. To win the game, you must play 12 music games and activities to unlock the clock to free Alice. There are several games to play and each will help the player understand musical instruments: how they are used in a musical piece, their look and what sound they make. Cheshire Cat helps to navigate through each game while telling riddles and rhymes. While playing one of the games the player learns sounds of instruments and the family of instruments in which they are grouped. For example, the flute would be found in the woodwind family and the lute is found in the string family. When you choose an instrument it will play a tune, while the instrument is playing a voice tells a rhyme about that instrument. In another game, you choose instruments and place them on a stage. After the band is on stage it will play a symphony. In the Listening Room you will hear a narrated biography of Vivaldi's life and hear an animated, narrated and rhymed Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments.
This game is a big hit with my children who love music. They loved hearing the instruments, playing the games and learning about the symphony. It is a hit with me because the sound quality of the instruments is fantastic and the animations are amusing and delightful. This game was named "Mom Tested" Best Software of the Year for 2004 by Parenting Magazine and has received various other high profile awards, reviews and top ratings. CBS News, Nick Jr. Magazine and USA Today rated the game a "Top Pick".
System Requirements for this game are:
Windows: 98 or higher, Pentium III 360 MHz or higher, 128 MB RAM.
MAC: G3 or higher, OS 9 or higher, 250 MB RAM minimum
On the Kids Music Stage website you will find information about this game and the two others sold by this company. You can read reviews of the games, see screenshots of the games and also purchase them. The website is well laid out and easy to navigate.
