Learning to read and write can be daunting for kids, but with the new Marvel Hero Tales mobile app from Kuato Studios, little ones hopefully can get some help from Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and other Marvel greats.
The free app, available on iOS and Android, encourages kids from 7 to 11 to write their own Marvel stories while developing their language and reading skills.
The Marvel Hero Tales app lets kids follow superheroes like Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Captain America and Captain Marvel as they “level up” by completing activities such as word collection and comprehension of words.
Players can then use these words to write their own story by building sentences inside a comic book panel. Their choice of words directly affects the outcome of the superhero’s mission. The final result is a personalized comic book that can be shared with friends and family.
The storylines and word choices are adapted to the player’s age, with shorter and simpler language used for younger audiences, and more complex vocabulary words for the older kids.
As players progress within the app, their achievements earn them badges for their success.
The new Marvel Hero Tales app shows kids that their word choices can decide what Spider-Man does next in the interactive comic.
Kuato Studios
“This is the most personal project I’ve ever been involved with, not just because of my love of the Marvel Universe, but also because as a child with undiagnosed dyslexia, school, and particularly reading, was incredibly challenging for me,” Mark Horneff, CEO of Kuato Studio, said in a statement.
Horneff remembers being given a copy of Spider-Man at age 8 and reading it cover to cover.”
“Those adventures fed not only my imagination, but my confidence as a storyteller and my passion for reading,” Horneff said. “My hope is that Marvel Hero Tales will inspire a new generation of Marvel readers and storytellers, and in some small way, allow that 8-year-old to repay some of the debt I owe to Peter Parker.”
Avengers: Endgame toys, merchandise to re-create the MCU capstone
While there might have been a little controversy over Green Book winning the Oscar for Best Picture a few weeks back, there was little debate about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse picking up an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Now the movie, already available to on digital streaming, heads to home theaters with the standard Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray available to own starting Tuesday, March 19.
Sony Pictures
Both versions look and sound great, but the more expensive 4K version is a little more visually impressive for those who have the appropriate gear — namely a 4K Blu-ray player and 4K HDR TV (there is also a Dolby Atmos surround mix if you have an Atmos set up).
Not only does the film put a completely new spin on the Spider-Man franchise, but it has a unique look that’s inspired by the graphic style of actual comic books — right down to the half-tone dots and multi-panel images. Not much is lost with the Blu-ray version, but watching the 4K HDR version on my OLED TV played through an Xbox One S, everything seemed slightly enhanced. Color saturation and overall detail look better, and those half-tone dots are subtly more apparent.
Now playing: Watch this:
Exclusive Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse clip melds…
0:39
As far as bonus features go, the included short Spider-Ham Caught in a Ham is in 4K too. On the other hand, interesting extras like the Alternate Universe Mode Viewing Option, which adds about 25 minutes of raw, unfinished material to the film, is only available on the Blu-ray disc (yes, the Blu-ray is, as usual, included with the 4K version).
We compile a list of best 4K Blu-rays and this will certainly make the list. That said, I wish Sony had done a combo 4K/3D package because there are those of us who still occasionally watch 3D flicks, and this is one I’d like to own in 3D.
The 3D Blu-ray will be released separately on April 10 in some countries outside the US and the UK (it will be region-free, however).
If you don’t own a 4K Blu-ray player or 4K TV, it’s worth noting that Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and Target have exclusive Blu-ray editions including bonus items. All are available for preorder and ship March 19.
4K Blu-ray (also includes Blu-ray and digital copy)
App developers know how to plan ahead. Just in time for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which swings into theaters July 3, Disney Publishing and Gameloft have released two very different, but equally great, movie tie-ins.
The Amazing Spider-Man (Android | iOS, $6.99) delivers an action-packed gaming experience, while the Spider-Man AR Book HD for iOS ($4.99) — unappealing name notwithstanding — gives kids an interactive storybook to read, hear, and play with.
Let’s start with the game, which plays exactly like a Spider-Man adventure should, giving you an open city around which to crawl, swing, and battle.
Because games like this all but demand a big(ger) screen, I tested The Amazing Spider-Man mostly on my iPad 3. Visually, it’s a knockout, bringing Manhattan to life like few mobile games I’ve seen. Cars drive, pedestrians walk, signs flash — it’s a feast for the eyes. (Gotta say, though, Spidey’s rear end is a little too, er, defined for my liking. He’s definitely sculpted to please the lay-daze.)
Gameloft keeps the gameplay mechanics admirably simple. Walk toward a wall and Spidey starts climbing it. Tap the jump button and he jumps; tap and hold and he slings a Web. Once you master the sling-and-swing timing, you get a wonderful sense of sailing through the air (even if your webs occasionally seem to grapple nothing but air).
When the time comes to start a mission (the game has 25 in all), you head to a selected area on the map, then engage the baddies using a modified control system that appears only during combat. To keep things interesting, the game offers new moves and skills you can purchase using the points you accrue. (You can also purchase them in-game with actual money.)
The real test of any superhero game comes from my 9-year-old, who wrote his own review:
The Spider Man game is awesome! You can do different challenges and beat up thugs! Spider-Man can also swing wherever he wants in the city. You can buy different attacks with the money you earn. Spider-Man does have a weird voice in the game, though.
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
The Spider-Man AR Book HD tells the story of the movie and includes a couple camera-enhanced mini-games.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
As for the storybook, it’s an animated, narrated, kid-friendly retelling of the movie, complete with augmented-reality (the “AR” in the title) mini-games that leverage the iPad’s camera.
For example, the reader can “wear” a Spidey mask or Peter Parker’s glasses, or create an Oscorp badge with his or her own picture (not much AR there, admittedly). There are also a couple creepy games where you have to collect runaway spiders or even kill spiders crawling on your face.
My 9-year-old was less enthusiastic about these extras, but he did like the story and immediately told me, “I think I want to see that new Spider-Man movie.” (That sound you hear is Disney’s marketing department yelling, “Swish!”)
Needless to say, there’s plenty of entertainment to be had here for Spidey fans young and old, though it’s a safe bet you’ll be able to buy both apps for a couple bucks less after the movie has come and gone.
