Dora the Explorer video games put you in control of Dora (or Diego) to run, jump and dash your way through lightly themed stories. You play these games on older PlayStation, Wii or DS consoles, that each offer super easy controls and plenty of excitement in a platforming challenge wrapped up with great child voice acting.

The games stand out for their storytelling and quality of production. But along with this, the play is also perfectly pitched to fans of the show. Each level is a challenge of getting from point A to point B. To do this you take on various enemies, switches and lifts and pick up various collectables that accrue score, special abilities and access to hidden areas.

The Wii versions of these games stand out for being controlled by tilting the Wii-Remote gamepad rather than the left/right sticks. This not only reduces the number of buttons but also seems to be a scheme that is instantly understandable by children. This is punctuated with movement-based minigames where you have to perform a particular Just Dance style motion to progress.

There are a wide range of Dora the Explorer video games, these are the best of them that offer the experience we are describing here:

• Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet (2005) GameCube, PlayStation 2 - Dora save aliens from a crashed flying saucer.
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaids (2007) PlayStation 2 - Defeat an evil octopus dumping garbage into the ocean.
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess (2008) PlayStation 2, and Wii - Dora travels through the snowy game world to save the snow princess who has been trapped by an evil Witch.
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom (2009) Wii, PC, PlayStation 2 - Dora must find all of the crystals to save the Crystal Kingdom.

There are also some Go Diego Go games that offer a similar experience with Diego rather than Dora staring:

• Go Diego Go: Safari Rescue (2008) Wii, PS2 - Search the Safari Trail to learn about your favourite animals.
• Go Diego Go! Great Dinosaur Rescue (2009) Wii, PS2 - Travel back in time with Diego and Baby Jaguar to help Maia the Maiasaura find her way back to her family.

The result is a lovely series of games for really young players. Along with the franchise attraction, there is plenty of substance with players soon involved in the plot and egging each other on as they progress through the various levels.