Parker Connect Four Electronic Hand-Held Game by Hasbro

Milton Bradley's Electronic Handheld Connect Four is recommended for ages 7 & up. I had picked this game up for my 7 year old so I could pry him away from his gameboy and get a crack at it. Instead, I ended up playing the connect four because my son just got bored with it.

The game itself is made of a see through yellow plastic with a game screen that measures 2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. The whole game itself measures 4 1/2 inches long by 3 inches wide. The game easily fits into an adults hand and kids do not have a problem carrying around this game.

There are quite a few red buttons on the front of the game. There is your on/enter button, new game, high score, sound and hint/demo buttons. There is not an off button but the game will automatically shut itself off after 1 minute of inactivity. If the game shuts off after playing, you can just press any button to "wake" it back up and you can continue from where you left off. If it shuts itself and you do not play it until the next day let's say, then it will just start over as if you are starting a new game.

The hint/demo button is just that. It will give you a hint as to where to move your checker or you can just hit the button before playing the game to see a demo of the game. I suppose people who have never played connect four before would find the demo useful. The demo is also useful for letting 3 year olds thinking they are playing the game when in fact they are not.

The object

The object of Connect Four is to connect four of your checkers either across, up, down or diagonally. The game is played the same as you would play the original connect four game, except in this game you only play against the computer. There are no 2 players in this game.

The Games

Yes I said games as in plural. With Electronic Handheld Connect Four you get to choose 1 of 2 games to play and also choose your skill level. Game 1 is just regular connect four, and game 2 is regular connect four with a twist. In game 2 you will have disappearing grids that disappear every so often after a checker is dropped and it will not reappear again until you've dropped your checker. So now you must remember where all the checkers were when placing your checker on the board, otherwise your move may result in the computer winning.

There are 3 skill levels to choose from. Like many other games, level 1 is for beginner, level 2 is intermediate, and level 3 is expert. The higher the skill level, the more advanced the computer is.

What to do

When you start to play your game, your black checker will appear on top of the grid. You have to move the arrow keys either left or right until you find where you want to drop your checker. You then hit the enter button to drop your checker. The checkers move down the grid rather quickly and the computer takes his turn right away. One good thing about playing against the computer is you do not have to sit there and wait for them to make a move.

What we like & dislike about the game

My son was thrilled with Electronic Handheld Connect Four for about 1 hour. Then he decided he had enough of the computer winning and decided to head back to his gameboy. He told me if I wanted to play connect four with him, he'd play the "real" connect four, not the computer connect four.

I happen to like the electronic connect four just as much as the regular connect four. I enjoy beating the computer and still pout when the computer beats me. I also like playing the 2 different games and changing skill levels. The game will also keep track of your games and high scores for you. If you hit the high score button it will tell you how many games you've won, lost, and how many ended in a tie. For some reason, I like to know just how many times I've given the computer a whooping.

I also like that the game only runs on 1 AA battery and can be taken in the car with you on those long road trips. The sound button can be used to either turn on or turn off the sound. So if you get annoyed hearing the game, just hit the sound button to mute it. Although my 7 year old may not enjoy the game, my 3 1/2 year old likes to attempt to play it in the car. It pretty much just keeps his mind occupied and keeps him from asking "are we there yet?"

I do recommend the Electronic Handheld Connect Four if you are a fan of the original connect four game. Even if the kids do not like it, chances are one of the parents will.