Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Kid take: I gave this to my four year old. He was ecstatic. He and his 6 year old brother got a lot of play about it and were a little pushy trying to take turns. They enjoyed testing out each "instrument" and were big fans of several of the "jams." Here's the adult take: This is a pretty good toy. It isn't terribly loud even on the highest setting, and it isn't confusing or abstract. The onboard narration does a good job explaining things. There are three modes, math, music, and game. Personally, I think "music" mode is by far the most interesting, but the math and games are relatively engaging. I think this toy is fun even for a bigger kid, and I personally kind of enjoyed trying out the fifteen different instruments and their combinations. The music itself is not grating or horrible by any means. I do have a few beefs: 1. I like that "music mode" allows you to mix in different instruments into a particular composition. But I wish the songs were longer, or even looped continuously. Instead, they all seem to time out after 2-3 minutes or so. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" needs to last longer than this! Then you have to continually press the "music mode" button to cycle through songs again. 2. Another minor issue is that some instruments seem inexplicably louder or softer at particular times. Do they change based on song? Based on which Octopus arm they're placed in? Who knows. 3. There is storage room for two instruments on the rear of the unit. The arms hold 4. That means you need to find a place to stow the other nine instruments. 4. The big blue button in the middle is apparently the "Annoy" button. It causes the octopus to say pointless catchphrases, or make a record scratch sound. Why not give us something more interesting in that space, like a song selector? Overall, I would recommend this toy. It's not perfect, and I think it could stand to be 20% cheaper, but then, I say that about most things. It offers a lot of interest and replay value. I'd say it's good for kids 1-8, while older kids will probably try to sneak some play in too while no one's looking.