My daughter absolutely loves the Disney animal characters and the dalmatians are her favourites, so she plays this game regularly. I would say that it would appeal to kids aged 2-8, as the game has varying degrees of difficulty which spans these age ranges.
In the most basic form, the game can just show the story of the dalmatians, like a mini-movie. This is an interactive storybook, however, which also allows the child to interact with the pictures and scenes on the screen. This is fantastic for developing mouse control in very young children as young as 2, as they can see the effect of clicking on an item or character. The interactive storybook takes you from the beginning of the story, through memorable scenes in the film including the most formidable of Disney villains, Cruella De Vil.
Throughout the game there are aditional games and puzzles that the child can access if they wish to. These include matching dogs with their owners and cracking codes to get into the De Vil Mansion. You can also acess songs from the film and additional songs that have been composed especially for the game. The words come on the screen so the child can sing along.
The style of animation in the game is faithful to the film, and there is lots and lots to explore in the scenes and pictures to keep the child coming back time and time again and discovering something new that they didn't see last time. The music is toe-tapping and the characters adorable.
The game also contains a print studio, which enables the child to print off cards and other stationery items such as bookmarks with dalmatian pictures on them. This is easy and simple enough for most kids to manage without help.
My daughter plays the game regularly, despite having had it so long. We recently had a new computer, and I wasn't sure that the disc would be compatible with Windows 7, but it worked just fine with no problems. As she has got older, she has been able to increase the difficulty levels on the games so that they still remain a challenge for her. The games can be adjusted between levels 1-3 difficulty.
This is one of the best PC games for children I have bought, and is consistent with the high quality I have come to expect from Disney products. This game will appeal to boys and girls, as well as most parents who love the film. I think the idea of an interactive storybook is fantastic, as it makes the game educational as well as great fun to play.