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Review
Alice
in Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Review by Jennifer Miller
December 08, 2004 |
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 So it’s not everyday that I come across a children’s
game that is as creative in its approach to teaching music as I did
with Alice. Even though I’m working on my Master’s Degree
in Voice right now, as a kid, I never really enjoyed classical music.
Don’t stand there with your mouth hanging open – it’s
true! I had no interest in learning the different sections of the
orchestra or understanding how the structure of Vivaldi’s timeless
work tells its tale. Yes I was studying piano, yes I was playing
the clarinet. But I would have rather sat down with my Debbie Gibson
piano book then take a look at the Bach invention I had been assigned
that week for my lesson.
I’m guessing that the opinion of classical music among kids
hasn’t changed much since 1986, except nowadays I would have
been pounding my way through a Hillary Duff portfolio instead of
Miss Deborah. That’s why I have to give my hand to Music Games
International for developing such a user-friendly portal into one
of the “scariest” realms of music – baroque orchestral
composition! (Gasp!)
 By packaging the work
with Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale of
the naïve little blonde girl who goes searching for the White
Rabbit, MGI sets the scene for one of the most interesting combinations
of Literature and Music. In this version, Alice has indeed gone searching
for the White Rabbit, but becomes trapped inside his watch which
is now broken. The Cheshire Cat greets us at the opening to explain
that Alice can only be released when the watch is fixed. To fix the
watch, we must explore all twelve puzzles, each related to a number
on the watch. Only a few choices are available at first, but as puzzles
are solved, more open up. We must process through all twelve in order
to set Alice free.
 Here’s the fun part:
all twelve puzzles are music related in some capacity. Some deal
with the parts of the orchestra, while
others touch on The Four Seasons. My first challenge was
to match a piece of music with the four instruments that were playing
it.
This can get difficult if you cannot tell the timbre of a violin
from the timbre of a viola. In another, you can help Alice compose
her own melody for The Four Seasons by running her across
a field and having her pluck the notes out of the sky. However, my
favorite
is the melody recognition puzzle. Alice must make her way through
the White Rabbit’s house by identifying altered versions of
The Four Seasons. At the beginning of each level, the orchestral
sample will be played. You must scroll over numerous objects, each
matched to an altered version of a place in the work, and find the
altered version that goes with your correct sample. You know you’re
a music nerd when you enjoy hearing Vivaldi played on the sitar.
 The sound is well done,
although some instruments were recreated using a MIDI console instead
of recorded instruments. But that’s
understandable considering the game explores early Baroque instruments
that are hard to find outside of a period ensemble. The Cheshire
Cat’s voice acting is reasonably “purrrfect” (so
many puns!!) and was quite enjoyable. It’s difficult to talk
about the graphic achievements of a music based children’s
game, because how do you grade it against other games? You simply
can’t! The graphics are cartoonish, but quite friendly and
colorful. They consist of line drawings mostly, recreating the childlike
world of Wonderland.
I thoroughly recommend this game for any parent or child interested
in learning more about the orchestra and is a little afraid to venture
out to the symphony. I also recommend it for any gamer out there
who was terrified by the music-based puzzles in Myst and Shivers.
Alice makes learning Vivaldi extremely enjoyable and should be a
staple in every Music Appreciation classroom, from elementary to
college.
If you’re interested in purchasing this game, it is available
on KidsMusicStage.com, along with MGI’s other releases based
on Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Tchaikovsky’s The
Nutcracker.
I think they should tackle Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty next.
  
Grade: Gold Star (that’s
an A in my book)
For all of you Alice junkies out there, may I recommend:
Read: Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Play: American McGee’s Alice (It’s twisted, I know, but so much
fun!)
Watch: Any one of the MANY miniseries that are based on Alice
If you would like to sample
some of the puzzles and riddles from Alice or other games from
Music International, then please visit
this link: http://www.interactiveclassics.com/play_musicgames.htm.
Final Grade: A
(find out more about our
grading system)
System Requirements:
- Windows 98 or
higher
- Pentium 360 MHz or
higher
- 128MB of RAM
- 250MB available on Hard Drive
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