The story begins when Moop and Dreadly, an unlikely pair of pirate heroes, are stranded on Bing-Bong Island. I admit it took me a little while to figure out who was Moop and who was Dreadly. Dreadly, or Captain Dreadly, as he insists on being called is an adventure minded boy. Moop is his more laidback sidekick. I'm not sure what type of creature the purplish Moop is, most likely the kind conjured up by five-year-old boys. Moop has arms like a gorilla, stripes like a tiger, a belly like a teddy bear, and a tail like a bunny. He speaks in grumps and growls, but Dreadly seems to have no trouble understanding him.
The Treasure on Bing Bong Island is your typical adventure game where players move from screen to screen meeting characters and finding interesting objects that always end up being handy later. It seems like somebody always wants something before they'll let you have what you need. As players discover the desired objects, they have to remember where they've been and who needs what. For example, Chief Earwig won't hand over the second half of the treasure map, until Moop and Dreadly complete the Test of Strength. The Test involves getting a humongous rock on top of a little one. Mrs. Hornswoggle can help with the task, but first they have to find something to patch the hole in her balloon. And this is the way it goes through six chapters: 1) What Could Be Better, 2) Two Rocks, Gotcha, 3) The Treasure's Awaitin', 4) Smooth Move, Mister, 5) Aye, Aye, Cap'n Trench, 6) Real Treasure.
Navigating through the six chapters is fairly easy. The cursor turns into an arrow if you cross a pathway or door to another screen, and it changes to a white circle if you pass over clickables. A clickable is a brief bit of animation geared to get giggles out of kids and to encourage them to move the mouse around the screen. Children can save the game where they left off, so they can continue the adventure later.
This game is for ages five and up. It's fun and silly, but could get long and drawn out for a child with a short attention span. On the other hand, this game really makes kids think and plan.
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