LeapFrog Educational Toys and Games
LeapFrog® Didj Custom Learning Game Sonic the Hedgehog

Product Description

Get into the zone with Sonic! Dr. Eggman is up to his evil tricks again. He's captured Sonic's animal friends and transformed them into robotic minions. Race through four action-packed classic Sonic zones, collecting rings and freeing your furry friends. Your spelling smarts and Sonic's speed are sure to spell defeat for Dr. Eggman and his mechanized mischief. Choose from over 10,000 spelling words to match what you're studying in school, then download your custom spelling list to study as you play. For use with the Didj Custom Gaming System, sold separately.

---

• Brand: LeapFrog
• Model: 30680
• Released on: 2008-06-01
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Dimensions: 8.38" h x 5.38" w x .62" l, .15 pounds

From the Manufacturer
Get Into the Zone with SONIC! Dr. Eggman is up to his evil tricks again. He's captured Sonic's animal friends and transformed them into robotic minions. Race through four action-packed classic Sonic zones, collecting rings and freeing your furry friends. Your spelling smarts and Sonic's speed are sure to spell defeat for Dr. Eggman and his mechanized mischief! Choose from over 10,000 spelling words to match what you're studying in school then download your custom spelling list to study as you play!

---

Customer Reviews

Nice, but customization is lacking
Just got my 9 year-old a Didj for his birthday. The initial setup was easy and he took to the controls right away. The Sonic game is fun and does test spelling, but the word choice is somewhat illogical--lots of words like "bread", "laughter", "knowledge"--which don't follow any rules; i.e. all are sight words. This is great if your kid is already proficient at memorizing these words and just needs a review, but is terrible for reinforcing spelling rules based on phonemes.

A big selling point of this game is that parents can go online and make customized spelling lists. So it was very disappointing that if you connect to the Leapfrog Learning site and try to get to the customization page, you get a message saying the page is not working, they are "aware of the problem and are working on it" C'mon, Leapfrog, this is one of the big features you are pushing--fix this problem!!

Excellent!
My son has been playing this game non-stop since we gave it to him. Unlike the other review, the words were perfectly suited for his age/grade (2nd). Even if you needed easier words for your child, you can go into the Leapfrog Connect program and download a different word set (by grade, category, or create your own). The thing that makes this game so valuable (and the Didj as a whole) is that he is playing with HIS spelling words from school! I was so impressed by this: using the Leapfrog Connect program, you type in a spelling word from school and click "find". It will show you variations of that word and you choose the one you want (you do this for each of the spelling words). When you sync it to the Didj, not only the words but the AUDIO for each word syncs, so the female voice in the program will read the word to your child for them to spell! Every Monday our son's teacher gives a list of 20 words, and every Monday we sync them to the Didj. It's really awesome. They have had every spelling word too as of date, for the exception of "ball" which must have been an oversight since they had all the other "-all" words. My son has always liked Sonic, so we knew in advance he would like this game. The Didj mixes a lot of game play between the questions, but I appreciate that as otherwise my son would probably toss it aside and beg for a Nintendo DS or a Sony PSP. Plus with each correctly spelled answer, you are rewarded with a bunch of rings to collect. The controls take some time to get used to, and might be difficult for younger kids. My son struggled for a bit (I struggle to control Sonic too when I play!), but since he likes Sonic, he was already motivated to persevere. If your child has a pre-existing love of Sonic, this will be a hit.

I love this game....and so does my 7 year old
This is much better than the didji racing game for spelling. My son didn't play that one much. I'm watching him spell words he's never spelled before. It helps that on some of the screens the letters are there, but he has to choose the correct order. Plus Sonic is just plain fun. I would highly recommend this one.