Muppets on Your iPhone: The Muppets - Animal Drummer

The Muppets - Animal Drummer

$1.99 on iTunes

"The Muppets - Animal Drummer" is the first (and currently only) application available for the iPhone and iPod Touch released from The Muppets Studio. And if it's any indication of what we can expect from future Muppet apps, I certainly hope they hurry up and release them.

"Animal Drummer" is an extremely fun application in which you portray Animal (go figure) as you play the drums and keep the beat through various melodies--sort of like the video game "Rock Band" without your obnoxious friend singing badly next to you. On the iPhone and iPod Touch, you use your fingers to play the same notes that Animal plays after he finishes playing a set. As you progress through the song, the sets get longer and you have more notes to remember.

While none of the songs available to play on the app are actual, well-known songs, they are very catchy and Animal seems to enjoy all of them. In fact, when you play enough note sequences well enough, you earn enough energy to go into "Animal Mode" where Animal does what he does best... beat drums with no one telling him how! In "Animal Mode" you can let your fingers go crazy by hammering on any of the five notes in any random order you wish. The more notes you hit, the more points you earn and the more wild Animal goes-thus, the more fun you're sure to have.

Playing the drums with Animal is extremely fun and watching him go nuts on with the drumsticks is, to borrow a word, epic. The first time I played it I was laughing and enjoying it so much that I forgot to hit the notes. My only small gripe about the game is that I wish there was more to do. More songs to beat would be more than welcome and cameos by Floyd or Dr. Teeth explaining how to play would have also been great, but it's perfectly fine the way it is.

If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, do yourself a favor and spend $1.99 to buy this fantastic application. Maybe if you do, Disney will get the picture and finally release more Muppet applications. They've already announced apps like "Gonzo Grams," "Pepe Love Meter," and "Statler and Waldorf Movie Critics" so now we're just playing the waiting game (like we seem to do quite often with The Muppets Studio).

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Muppets on Your iPhone - Count TV

Count TV

$2.99 on iTunes

Ryan Dosier - It's a double whammy day! Sesame Street Saturdays and Muppets on Your iPhone in one post? That's two! Two things! Ah! Ah! Ah!

As you can probably tell, I'm in a Count mood today, since I've just spent the past ten minutes or so playing around on "Count TV," another of the new iPhone applications from Sesame Street and IDEO Toy Lab. This new application features, you guessed it, Count von Count and his remote control.

On the remote there are nine different buttons (conveniently labeled 1-9) which you can press to see nine different classic Sesame Street clips that correspond to the number you pressed. For instance, by pressing the number 1, you see the Monsterpiece Theater sketch, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." But you don't just get to watch the clips, midway through the Count pauses the video and asks you to count an object by touching it.

This app is one that transcends age barriers. Youngsters will enjoy counting the objects while older fans can enjoy the nostalgic fun of some classic Sesame Street shorts. The list of clips included in the app are as follows:

1. Monsterpiece Theatre: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2. "The Song of Two"
3. Grover counts three blocks with Herbert Birdsfoot
4. Four friends with Elmo, Telly, Grover, and Zoe
5. "Five People in My Family"
6. The Queen of Six
7. Cookie Monster eats Ernie's seven cupcakes
8. Eight apples grow on a tree
9. Martian Beauty

I really enjoyed this app, as I hadn't seen most of the clips. And how can you beat new Count material with the voice of the legendary and awesome Jerry Nelson? I highly recommend this app to any fans of classic Sesame Street, or any parents who want to introduce their kids to nearly Elmo-free material. This is a lot of fun for kids of all ages.

Besides, how can you pass up the opportunity to see 1 fly over the cuckoo's nest?

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppets on Your iPhone: Bert's Bag

Bert's Bag

$3.99 on iTunes

Ryan Dosier - Hi there! I've got a brand new iPhone app to review for you. Care to take a look? Well, today I played the brand new iPhone app from IDEO Toy Labs and Sesame Street, "Bert's Bag" which stars, you guessed it, Bert (Professor Hastings declined the script) and a brown paper bag.

The game is very simple (which turns out is a good idea for games geared at preschoolers), because all you have to do is open Bert's bag, dump it out onto the table, and count the contents with him. There are numerous types of things to count, and all are very Bert-esque. When I played, I counted toy tops, Bert's international coin collection (which consisted of three coins), and keys.

And honestly, that's all there is to the game. I suppose there are tons of different things you could count with Bert, as each bag is different, but after three turns I was bored. In a way, I see this as perfect for Bert; a boring game with a bunch of weird items.

In the Sesame Street iPhone app hierarchy, "Bert's Bag" ranks somewhere below "Elmo's Monster Maker" and somewhere above "Rosita's Jump Count." The app is fun to count a long with and it's always fun to see Bert in new material. Eric Jacobson does a fantastic job here, as he makes Bert enthusiastic about some very lame thing.

So, overall, this app is fun for the novelty of having Bert and his excitement over a new bag. This app will be perfect for antsy preschoolers and every once in awhile I'm sure their parents will get a kick out of it too. Go, Bert!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppets on Your iPhone: Elmo's Monster Maker

MUPPET ALERT
The Muppets appeared on The Nerdist Podcast yesterday to be interviewed by very big nerd Chris Hardwick. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Pepe, Swedish Chef, Bunsen, and Beaker all appeared for the occasion. They discuss "Bohemian Rhapsody," The Webby Awards, what they do in their spare time, and so much more. This is a can't miss Muppet appearance, so click the link and give it a listen for free!

Elmo's Monster Maker

$3.99 on iTunes

Ryan Dosier - Today I sat down and played with Elmo, and I'm not ashamed to say it! (Okay, so I wouldn't do it in public, but I'm not ashamed to say I did it in private!) Yes, today I played Elmo's Monster Maker, an iPhone Application that allows you or your preschooler to design a monster Muppet who then dances and plays with Elmo.

The premise is very simple and the game is very easy to control. You simply touch the monster's face to add or change the eyes, nose, or headgear for your monster. The game doesn't need to be complicated or strategic, it's just a lot of innocent fun. Isn't that what Elmo is all about?

The monsters featured in the game vary in size, shape, and color. After you've selected a monster body, you have to pick a pair of eyes, a nose, and a hat for your monster by touching its face and the top of its head. The options for eyes, noses, and hats change depending on the monster body as well, so there are literally hundreds of combinations that can be made.

After you make your monster there are three different options: dance, play with Elmo, and take a picture. And they are all pretty straight-forward options, so I won't go into too much description of them. It's fun to see your creation play with Elmo for a little bit and dancing Muppets are always fun. When Elmo takes a picture of your monster, the picture is saved to your iPhone or iPod Touch's Photos section where you can view it at any time.

This app really is a lot of fun. Even yours truly, a 19 year old Muppet fan, had fun playing with Elmo and making monsters. However the initial appeal did dissipate fairly quickly for me. There are so many times you can watch a monster dance with Elmo in a day.

However, I'm sure this app is a huge hit with preschoolers and parents of preschoolers. They must get a kick out of seeing something they actually made play with their friend Elmo. I'm sure their parents also get a kick out of checking their Photos on their iPhone and finding 350 new monsters.

So, in conclusion, I can't recommend this app enough to parents of preschoolers who love Elmo (and what preschooler doesn't?). But if you're an older fan, you might want to save your $3.99 for "Grover's Number Special," which is a lot more fun for older fans (and which will be reviewed sometime next week).

And, with that... it's time to BOOGIE!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppets on Your iPhone: Rosita's Jump Count

Ryan Dosier - Today on The Muppet Mindset we start a new series of product reviews called "Muppets on Your iPhone." In this series we'll review all of the new iPhone and iPod Touch applications featruing those lovable furry things. (No, not peaches.)

Rosita's Jump Count

$2.99 on iTunes

 


Rosita's Jump Count stars Rosita (go figure), her jump rope, and you. The premise is extremely simple: You jump and Rosita counts. Rosita will sometimes give you a number count to or sometimes she'll just let you jump however many times you feel like (from 1-100) while she counts. She also counts in both English and Spanish, alternating between the two.

I suppose this application isn't directly aimed at adults--which it shouldn't be, Sesame Street is for kids after all--but beyond the initial appeal of having Rosita actually talk to you and play your exercise coach, there's not much here anyone over the age of 5 or 6 can really appreciate.

I do love Rosita. She's adorable and extremely fun, and thankfully she's  no different here. After you jump a large number in the free jump, she'll laugh and dance and shout "Oh, yeah!" a bunch of times. It's pretty fantastic if I do say so myself.

But if you have kids with copious amounts of energy, this app is perfect for you. I can only assume that they will be instantly charmed by Rosita and be eager to jump along with her and her fuzzy feet. However, if you're an adult with no kids and just looking for some Sesame Street fun on your iPhone, I would look elsewhere. Elmo's Monster Maker, for instance, is charming for all age groups.

But in the end just seeing Rosita in fun new material is a pretty okay thing for me. I don't regret spending the $2.99 one bit! (Although I did knock down a few things in my room while I was jumping.)

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier