I have tried a number of educational and not-so-educational games targeted at children and none compares to this one in simplicity. And I mean that in the best way possible.

For this age group (3-6), Simplicity Is Essential For Fun!

There are only two controls to master: 1) Movement via the Thumb Stick -or- Direction pad and 2) Action via any button.

ALL buttons function as the Action button. Unless your child hits start, then all other buttons will activate the Action. In most cases, this is simply Jumping, but the game includes a lot of other entertaining actions such as Stopping Swiper, sending Boots to go digging for Treasure, Catapulting over obstacles, etc. Whichever button your child prefers or can most easily reach with their small hands will work.

Journey to the Purple Planet plays just like a typical Dora episode - several episodes in fact because you advance to new adventures. You play as Dora & Boots, but all the familiar characters make appearances (eg, Backpack, Map, Isa, Swiper, etc.). If your child enjoys the show, then they will enjoy this game.

It provides some opportunity to explore, but is somewhat On Rails. That can be irritating in mature games, but for young ones it keeps them from getting lost or off track. Dora & Boots can roam around, but there are boundaries and there are also clearly marked paths to lead them toward their next goals.

Objectives are simple - find items, collect large glowing gems, etc. Children do not have to be absolutely perfect - being close to an objective is usually good enough. And Dora never loses - eg, she doesn't get stuck in the sand, simply blocked by it. The worst that happens is she might wander around a bit as your child figures out where the next collectible/objective is located.

Dora also gives Advice when your little player gets stuck or backtracks too far in the wrong direction. Every step of the way, there are spoken hints for how to deal with new functions. Nothing is written (other than the start & continue screens), so your child does not have to know how to read. When they need to continue, the game prompts them with a graphic to press the button.

The game Automatically Saves, so there is little concern that your child will accidentally undo their progress unless they somehow back all the way out to the main menu and go through several steps to delete their saved game.

Unlike the new Wii control scheme, older controllers are not necessarily intuitive nor easy to use for beginners. But this game makes it about as easy as it can get.

The graphics are nicely cell-shaded with a number of nice touches like fluttering butterflies and the like to make the backdrop seem lively.

There are other good console games for young ones, but this is the single best Early Childhood (3-5) title available for the console, especially if your child already has a fondness for Dora

In a little known about scientific survey of The Purple Planet Dora and Boots found a new substance the could replace the food additive Red#5 and produce none of the harmful side effects. In fact you could become a super hero.