When Nikolai was around 3 years old, I began my fatherly duty of instilling in him a love for all things electronically gadgety, as any good father would, by convincing Tonya that he needed a Leapster from LeapFrog.  At first Tonya balked at my suggestion that he needed such a device to stay ahead of the curve, by citing that there is nothing wrong with reading books and playing with blocks to advance his mind.  But rather than backing down, I pressed the issue pointing out that reading and playing with blocks lacked the cool-electronic-gadget factor required by him and (mostly) me. Eventually, in what I assume was an attempt to shut me up, Tonya relented and Nik got the Leapster for Christmas.

Recently LeapFrog released the Leapster2, which I have sitting right here next to me.  This one belongs to Caleb, who is helping me review it.  Luckily for me, not a lot of time was wasted arguing with Tonya over the merits of yet another cool-electronic-gadget.  She’s finally realized that there’s no point in crossing swords with the Y chromosome-linked cool-electronic-gadget gene… There just simply isn’t.

Leapster Evolution 101

To understand how the Leapster2 got to where it is today, it might help to go back and learn where it came from.  The original Leapster, which I’m referring to as the Classic, was basically a Gameboy for the toddler set.  It was built for rough and tumble treatment, with an up, down, right, left jog switch, A and B buttons, a 3.75 inch touch screen, and an attached stylus.  The device used game cartridges whose titles featured popular childhood characters and which mixed in a healthy dose of education along with the entertainment. This made parents happy.  Finally, game play on the device advanced as the child advanced, thus keeping the child continuingly challenged.  About a year later, LeapFrog followed the Leapster Classic with the Leapster L-Max, which was basically the same as the Leapster Classic, but with an A/V output jack so a child could play the game on a television, therefore creating a dual screen system.  I, err I mean Nik never got a chance to try the L-Max out… Anyway, this brings us to today and the Leapster2, which once again is basically the same unit except that it’s a touch smaller than the Classic; they shrunk the screen to 3 inches (160x160 pixels) and LeapFrog got rid of the A/V output jack in favor of a USB port and opened up a whole slew of new possibilities.

Now I should point out that there is a Leapster TV system, but since we’re talking about the handheld units, it won’t be part of the discussion. 

With USB You Get Internet Interaction

With the past two Leapsters, as the child advanced through game play, he would receive Rewards which he could redeem by using a computer to log onto the LeapFrog website.  Now with the aid of the USB port, a child, with their parent’s help, can connect their Leapster2 to a PC or Mac and open up a whole new world of play and interaction.  They can upload pictures that they’ve drawn on their Leapster, they can access their Rewards, they can try new challenges and finally, LeapFrog saw fit to include a SD Card slot (SD Card not provided) to allow for the future downloading of games from LeapFrog online to the Leapster2.  Gee, with the right software, the Leapster2 could give an early Palm PDA a run for its money. 

Getting Parents Involved

LeapFrog has recently introduced the Learning Path Program, which takes advantage of the USB connection found in the Leapster2 and other LeapFrog devices with USB connections such as the Tag Reading System and Didj Custom Gaming System.  Briefly, the Learning Path Program allows parents to:

Create Profiles for up to 10 kids and then view their progress at a glance.

View Play Information by connecting to a PC or Mac to view how often the kids play and where they are advancing and where they may need help to advance to the next level.

Review Skills Engaged and Progress Made to allow parents to compile a personalized array of learning experiences through games and activities for each child.

Connect With the Kids offer suggestions on how to hone the skills that they’ve learned such as letter, word, color, shape, or number recognition. 

Finally, Get Expert Advice provides access to a network of educational experts for shared learning tips and advice.

All of this stems from LeapFrog’s philosophy that “Learning is not one-size-fits-all.” Unfortunately, I’ve only had a few weeks to play with it, so I really can’t give an opinion on this free service.

The Long and the Short of It

The Leapster2 is designed with a kid in mind.  Though I, as an adult, may find the screen to be archaic when compared to my iPhone, Caleb doesn’t seem to mind. Like a good mother, Tonya put the headphone jack through its paces and found that the louder sound levels didn’t concern her as they did when we reviewed the Tag.  Kudos to LeapFrog for not damaging young, sensitive ears.  The Leapster2 comes in two color schemes, one for boys and one for girls.  Caleb received the pink and purple one, but fortunately for us, he (and we) doesn’t allow things like that to bother him.  And finally, LeapFrog is smart enough to realize that it behooves them to make all of the game cartridges designed for the different Leapster Systems compatible with all of the Leapster devices.

Overall Impression

Caleb was used to Nik’s Leapster Classic, so he adjusted well to this one and found it to be very similar.  Unfortunately he’s a little too young to fully grasp the USB connection features.  That said, he still thinks it deserves 10 out of 10 stars for its ease of use and fun capabilities.  As for me, other than the upgrade to the USB connection and SD Card slot, it still feels like the same thing when compared to the Leapster Classic.  I would have loved to see some improvements in the screen besides shrinking it by 0.75 inches. At 160x160 pixels, its lack of definition makes it look washed out.  Still, the kid seems to like it, so I’m giving it 6 Dancing Elephants out of 8 with room for improvement.

Parting Thoughts

Seriously, I compared this along side my old Handspring Prism PDA and if LeapFrog were to install Calendar and Contacts software, Caleb would have a very stylish, kid friendly PDA.