Wild Planet Hyper Dash

My daughter ( who is 13 ) and her friends all love this game. They spent all weekend playing it and her girlfriend's family went out and purchased two more, one for their home and one to take to their summer home. Kids and adults have a great time playing!

I got two of this for my neighbor's kid who was turning 6 and my kid who just turned 3 because it got such excellent reviews. My neighbor's kids love this.

As long as your kid knows basic colors (red, green, orange, yellow, and blue), he/she can play the easiest level. We had great fun playing with our 3-year-old. We started by just arranging the color dishes on a table, practiced a few rounds, then moved the dishes apart. We had great fun running around. Overall, this is a great toy.

A few things, though not deal killers. When I hold the handle and press down, it tends to pinch my finger tips. It pinches my kid's finger tips, too. The sound sometimes is not loud enough to hear, especially when people are excited and laughing. I don't think there is a way to adjust the volumn.

This is an incredibly flexible toy. It is now one of my favorite toys to give as gifts. Also, if played outside, it has a tendency to attract nearby kids - which attests to its appeal. We play in the house and we play in the yard - it's very adaptable.

Pros:
Can be played on table or outside
Different levels - level 1 suitable for 3+ (kids that know their colors), level 3 tests kids' recall abilities, addition, and subtraction
Gets kids/moms/dads/etc... moving
Flexible - can be played in a few minutes - or for an hour+
You choose where the targets are placed (how far apart, etc...)

Cons:
Sometimes hard to hear (speaker is in handle)
You better not lose those targets!
Can't have different levels for different players
Sometimes does not register the target
Green looks too much like yellow (I guess they did not want it to blend with grass? Anyway, it throws our 3 year old sometimes)

I bought this for my 5 year old daughter at Christmas time, but really the whole family got into playing this (mom, dad, 12 year old, 5 year old, and 4 year old). At first my husband or I would set up the course and the kids would each take turns running it, but after a while even we got into it. We let the kids move the targets around before our turn. In the wet and cold winter and spring in Seattle, this allowed our kids to run around and have a great time and it really does work for all ages.

The only problems we have with this is the voice is very loud (no volume) and speaks very fast, so if you are laughing and miss the target announcement you have to waste a lot of time.

The only suggestions I have are: DO NOT LOOSE ANY OF THE PIECES! We lost one of the targets for a few weeks and it was very sad. Make sure the targets are on a firm surface that you don't mind being banged on. And make sure you REMEMBER where you hid the target. The above mentioned missing target occurred when our 4 year old hid the target in the middle of a closet and couldn't then remember where she had put it.

I keep buying this as a gift for 5-8 year olds, and the parents say that the kids love it, and it keeps them busy for hours and its great on rainy days - I hope they are telling the truth!