Editorial Reviews:
Editorial Review
Designed for children in preschool through second grade, and easily portable, the Leapster multimedia learning system offers educational games, reading exercises, art tools, and interactive videos in one electronic device. Atop an ergonomic silver body sits a 4-inch, 12-bit color backlit display protected by a blue rubber shield. Slide a Leapster cartridge into the slot, and learn letters, sounds, colors, shapes, numbers, and more, using the touch-screen stylus and multi-directional control pad. This unit comes with a bonus cartridge of six learning games; other Leapster cartridges are sold separately. Control knobs let you adjust volume and brightness; there's also a stereo headphone jack. Required are four AA batteries, not included. --Andy Boynton |
Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 BUY THIS WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG, Apr 30, 2023
This is a good investment. Buy it when they are young. My two year old loves it as much as the four year old. Neither one has any problem navigating through the games. The one it comes with has several games fun for toddlers and tweenies. We also own Finding Nemo which is better than any of the Leap Pad books. The biggest problem is the cost of the cartridges. The system was a gift for my four year old but the games cost 24.99 each and while they are great I don't think they offer enough on each cartridge to be worth that kind of money.
My daughter LOVES hers, she can sit for hours and while it might not be the best thing for her it certainly is better than her watchinf TV. Highly educational, the games target many areas even at that young age: problem solving, math skills, reading, spelling, logic... I love it. Best system for a child yet. Forget the V-Smile- this has wonderful graphics, excellent sound and is portable. Also, using the pen to touch the screen allows for deeper interaction,rather than just pushing a button. If they want a video system get the game cube or better yet dig out your old NES and head to a used video game store and pick up Sesame Street's 123/ Ernies MAgic Shapes, Sesame Street's ABC/ Ernies Big Splash, Big Birds Hide and Seek,and Donkey Kong Math. These are really simple to use and NO better than the VSMILE- just a lot cheaper. So, BUY the LEAPSTER it proves itself to have advanced technology, educational value, appeal and entertainment. All the rest are just new versions of old classics like the atari 2600 and NES.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Toy!!!, Apr 26, 2023
I thought my mother-in-law was insane when she purchased the leapster for my 3 year this past Christmas. I also had a fear that it would be too advanced. Wrong!!! The leapster is wonderfully adaptable for all age levels. He can spend hours on the programming that came with it. I credit the letter factory with single handedly teaching him his letters and sounds. After, getting the cartridge he suddenly knew every letter and sound that it made!!! One tip-after going through 3 sets of batteries, I discovered the charger. It is way worth it,as soon as my son tells me there is a battery on his leapster I charge it up!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful, durable, educational toy..., Apr 19, 2023
My 3 1/2 year old son received this for Christmas this past year. As soon as it was taken out of the package it was played with (even by the adults) and has hardly been put down since.
I'll try to break this down for you guys:
Durability A+ - My son likes to carry it around the house by the string that holds the stylus or "pen" and has dropped it so many times. I keep showing him the proper way to carry it and then I see him again doing the same thing.
Design A+ - Not too large for little hands. It has a large screen that's very well lit (with other toys you have to run out an buy that extra light).
Educational Benefits A+ - My son has the cartridge that it comes with, Dora, Nemo and the Incredibles. I originally felt that the one that it came with may not have been the greatest, but it seems like that's the one that he keeps going back to. The Incredibles is recommended for 2nd graders (which I didn't notice when ordering it) but being that four months had already passed since the holidays and it was still sitting waiting for me to return/exchange it, I decided to give it to him and he's actually able to play one of the games.
I plan on buying three more cartridges for his birthday that have just come out since the purchase that are age appropriate for him. Each game has a difficulty setting prior to starting each activity so the game actually grows with your child. My son has begun setting the leap frog tape challenges to 3 now and is doing math during the activity which makes me very happy!
We purchased the carry case which is sold as an accessory ($17.99)which I suggest - it's a good investment. The case is a stiff foam that's moulded to the shape of the leapster and has little compartments to hold extra games.
We also have the power pack - it's great to have when we run out of batteries but if you have a 3 year old you know they don't like feeling restricted to sitting in one area for a long time. I plan on purchasing additional rechargeable batteries to save money over time. It has a reasonable play time with throw away batteries but rechargeables always help.
Well, enough said...I hope that helped you out and that your little one enjoys playing and learning with the leapster as much as my son does!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Wonderful Toy!, Apr 14, 2023
I hesitated buying this for my children when it first came out. There were few cartridges for it and the price was really steep for a toy at the time.
But my kids love it. And we have been buying cartridges since they first got it as a Christmas gift.
It has many of the elements of a Game Boy but the education of the Leap Pad, (which my kids found to be boring and not very stimulating.) which made for a great item to have during long car rides and trips that would leave the kids feeling bored, grumpy and tired. With the Leapster, not only did they enjoy the trip, but didn't seem to notice the time going by.
My only real complaint with the Leapster was that 2 months after my kids had had the toy, the touch screen no longer worked. I called their customer service line and got wonderful help, but still had to take it back to get it replaced. This may have been fixed, considering that when I bought it, it was still only at limited places and not well-heard of yet.
My kids love it. I love buying the games for it, and it grows as they grow, so that they can continue to learn from it.
Really, a very fantastic toy for kids who like video games but may be too young to work them properly.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
This is the best!, Apr 2, 2023
My husband and I recently purchased this for our son's 4th birthday. He absolutly loves it, he has a good time with it. We love that it's educational. We recently got the Dora game and he's learning Spanish. It's very easy to use and easy to understand, he got it right away. He doesn't have any siblings so we thought it would be nice for when we go on trips. We also purchased the case and the charger for it, they're both awsome. I'm so glad we got the charger, it saves us quite a bit of money on the batteries. Especially since he plays it so much. We are huge fans of the Leapster, this was a great purchase.
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Based on 471 reviews.