Screen Shots

DRAKAN: ORDER OF THE FLAME, Psygnosis

What: Sword and sorcery adventure. Details: The main characterhere is a scantily-clad warrior-princess type, but this title is morethan just another pretty face. Drakan combines Tomb Raider-styleaction and puzzles with Panzer Dragoon dragon-flight combat (anybodyremember that Sega Saturn title?). Played from a behind-the-backperspective, Rynn, our heroine, is out to save her little brother,who's been kidnapped by a gaggle of bad guys. At her disposal inboth ground and aerial combat are more than 50 weapons, magicalspells and the aforementioned dragon. The single-player mode is funenough, but the (less-than-stable) Internet multiplayer options willkeep people returning to the game. This should appeal not just tothe fantasy crowd but also to mainstream gamers -- well, those withthe required 3-D accelerator card. Bottom line: Move over LaraCroft; there's a new heroine in town. -- John Gaudiosi

Win 95-98, $45

CRAYOLA MAGIC 3D COLORING BOOK FAVORITE PLACES, IBM

What: Coloring book for kids. Details: The fun here (as in itspredecessor, the popular Magic 3D Coloring Book) lies in the 3-Dshading that spreads over pictures as mouse-adept kids use differentcoloring utensils -- crayon, paint can, spray can -- on them.Favorite Places offers more colors and images than its predecessor,allowing a fairly rudimentary artist like my 5-year-old daughterRachel to come up with some snazzy illustrations of mermaids orcastles, using different colors, textures and glitter crayons. Othertest subjects (our 4-year-old neighbor Alex and my 2-year-old Sara)took less ambitious approaches but still thoroughly enjoyed theprogram. Kids can also try letter and number recognition incolor-by- number and connect-the-dots activities (another newaddition), create their own designs from scratch on the scribble pador print out black-and-white copies of scenes to fill in with realcrayons. This isn't a revolutionary advance over analog coloringbooks, but children more comfortable pointing and clicking thanactually drawing with a mouse will like it. I share some educators'worry that children who "color" perfectly on a computer will neglectpaper, but the handmade work from Sara and Rachel that covers myrefrigerator belies that concern. Bottom line: Color us pleased. --Elizabeth Chang

Win 95-98, $20, ages 3 to 7

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