The first element that was surprising about The Little Prince was its totally bizarre interface. Rather than standard menus, you instead travel through a universe filled with asteroids, planets, and characters from The Little Prince. Move your mouse to any one side of the game window and the result is that you travel through the universe. If you click on a point of interest, the program zooms you in to view animations, talk to characters, and carry out quests. At first I didn’t like this interface because it is so different. But after using the interface for a for a while proved to be both effective and intuitive.

The artwork and animation in The Little Prince consists of a watercolor motif and is very well done, definitely capturing the magical spirit of the classic tale. The music that provides a backdrop for some elements of the game is suited perfectly to the story, and the sound effects are sparse, yet appropriate. Voice acting is very professional throughout, and certainly the game’s strongest area is Kenneth Brannagh’s reading of the story itself. This classically trained actor obviously knows how to project a wide range of emotions, and he does an excellent job of bringing this story to life. However, unfortunately, technical problems bring Sir Kenneth’s efforts to a grinding halt and all but ruin the impact of the story’s narration.

The reading of the story is broken up into 30 parts, each narrated by Brannagh in addition to the actual story text, drawings, and animations. When everything is working as advertised this title represents a very professional effort. However, there were numerous times when I was intently listening to Brannagh’s delivery when all of a sudden the audio stopped and was never restored, forcing me to read the text of the chapter rather than listen to the narration. This malfunction certainly defeats the purpose of an interactive CD–ROM based story! Especially a product geared toward youngsters where reading isn’t yet a strong suit! What makes this all the more annoying is that the glitches occur more frequently as you proceed further in the story, resulting in an experience that’s more frustrating than entertaining.

Despite the aforementioned difficulties, The Little Prince is more than just an interactive re–telling of the story. The developers decided to add in a quirky (and a bit baffling) mini–game that requires that you tame a wild fox on the planet Earth, while tending to your own personal asteroid at the same time. While attempting to complete these quests, you can visit various characters and locations from The Little Prince. I’m still not quite sure what the developers were trying to achieve with this Macromedia game, but I do know that it was incredibly tedious. There is almost no interactivity involved, and I’m certain that children would never make it past the five–minute mark, and would soon squirm with boredom. In short, the game portion of this title is poorly conceived and poorly executed.

For those of you who would like to learn more about the interesting life of the author, and in celebration of his 100th birthday, this package includes an excellent interactive photo album that covers Saint–Exupery’s life from childhood onward. This is an excellent resource that poignantly provides the concept of the depression from which Saint Exupery was suffering while writing The Little Prince. This added information regarding the author who experienced many serious losses during WW II — a near–fatal plane crash in the desert, mourning for the loss of friends — certainly provides a new clarity into the melancholy mood of the tale. This material on the CD created an impetus for me to find out more about this fascinating and talented individual.

In closing, the developers did a decent job when dealing with the actual tale and its author — until they strayed from the source material, such as the mini–game, resulting in a less than stellar title. Although Brannagh’s voice is absolutely perfect for this story, it is inexcusable for the technical glitches that sabotage the efforts of one of the best actors of our time. Ill–advised design decisions and poor technical implementation all but sink this well–meaning attempt at bringing a classic to a new generation of children. And given the potential of The Little Prince, it’s really a shame that more time wasn’t put into this title.