| Put innovative creativity and fun at your kids' fingertips -- and watch them learn in the process -- with the The LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game System. This battery-operated handheld game system goes where your children go, and brings plenty of learning fun along. It comes with two pre-installed educational games, and many more are available: purchase an optional SD card separately for access to additional online games and to take advantage of other online features; or you can purchase game cartridges to add to your Leapster 2 repository. The included games have skill levels suitable for children ages 4 to 8. 
Children will love playing the educational games. View larger. | 
Insert different game cartridges (sold separately) for endless fun. View larger. |  | What We Think
Fun Factor: 
Durability: 
(what this means)
The Good: Battery-powered console goes where your child goes, offers versatile, educational fun.
The Bad: An SD card, which must be purchased separately, is required to take advantage of some Leapster 2 features.
In a Nutshell: Handheld game console offers fun, educational games that accommodate your child's learning curve. | At a Glance
Ages: 4 to 8
Requires: Four AA batteries
|  | | The console has a comfortable, curved shape, although it may be a tad large and heavy for smaller hands. It features a full-color touch screen and sound that's a far cry better than the beeps of old-school handheld consoles. (Parents will appreciate the volume control and a jack for headphones!) Control and manipulate the console with the included stylus and with the videogame-style D pad and other buttons. We found the initial set-up to be relatively easy: install the four required AA batteries, and navigate through the self-explanatory screens to create user profiles for up to 3 children (which come in handy for accessing online features). After this quick set-up, a menu screen will appear, where you can choose to play the pre-loaded games, go online, or insert a game cartridge. Fun and Learning
Leapster 2 games are designed to grow with your child ages 4 through 8. The console is pre-loaded with two games: The "Dragons to the Rescue! Learning Game," is a "video game" type activity with four different levels, the first helping kids identify letters and numbers, the most advanced giving them spelling and multiplication practice, all while navigating a dragon past monstrous storm clouds and scrambling to collect magic crystals. The "Creativity Castle Art Studio" is a rather low-tech art program. Players can select a background scene to "color" using the stylus and "decorate" with fun animated stamps. While it does foster creativity, this program is somewhat clumsy -- your Paint program on your PC does a much better job. But "Dragons" was fun enough to keep even an adult tester enjoyably diverted. Unfortunately, an SD card is required for taking advantage of some of what the Leapster 2 has to offer -- which is a drawback, because it must be purchased separately. For example, without the SD card (which offers more memory) you cannot save artwork.
In the meantime, without the SD card, you can still purchase game cartridges, as well as download new games, or take advantage of the online "Learning Path". (This online program allows you to register and upload your children's Leapster 2 profiles to show you their learning activities and their progress.) And you still can plug your console -- with the included USB cable -- into your PC for your children to view and print "rewards" for completing different game levels (for Dragons to the Rescue, they're certificates of achievement) or to print pictures to color with actual crayons (to encourage some "old-fashioned" creativity!) You must first install the Leapster 2 software on your computer, which comes on the included CD-ROM. What's in the Box
Leapster 2 Game System, USB cable, CD-ROM
PC Requirements
All Leapster games work with all Leapster systems.
PC Requirements
Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system
Pentium III 500 MHz processor
Monitor resolution of at least 1024 X 768
Available USB port
256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Internet connection
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or higher
CD reader
Mac Requirements
Mac OS X 10.4+
PPC G4 or any Intel-based Apple computer
Monitor resolution of at least 1024 X 768
Available USB port
256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Internet connection
Safari application
CD reader
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 Better than ever! |
| Review Date: July 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Nicole Leishman, IL USA |
| We owned a Leapter L-Max that quit working due to an "accident." Because our 3 year old has loved and used that machine several times a day we had to replace it. He had learned so much from the previous Leapster and the reviews of the V-Smile were poor, so we decided to go with another Leapster. While we did go back and forth about whether we wanted another L-Max for the TV play capability or whether we wanted the online funcitonality of this new Leapster 2. We had to put some thought into which feature, the TV or online, we would use most. We decided that we would really like the ability to track learning progress on line and that for $10 less, we would rather have that function. We also decided to look for a Leapster TV system, which we found on clearance, to replace the TV play capability of the old L-Max, so he could still use all the games on the TV and yet have 2 seperate toys and develop the motor skills of the 2 systems instead of one. This new Leapster is SO cute. The colors are great, the shape is better than the old ones, in my opinion. The stylus pen is secured by a thin fabric like cord rather than a heavy electronics cord, so it is easier to maneuver and it doesn't seem like it will break as easily. The sound is better and the screen is just as nice, if not better. We are very happy with this purchase, and our son likes it too. We have not tried the other games yet, but his old ones work just fine, as they are supposed to. I would defintitely recommend this model. I will also update the review when I have used the online functions. |
Definite improvements over original Leapster
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| Review Date: September 12, 2008 |
| Reviewer: JB, Virginia, USA |
We just got this new version of the Leapster to replace the old Leapster which had started malfunctioning due to grime. The durability of the old Leapster was mediocre, since grime caused it to significantly malfunction after 8 months of daily use. Be sure to get a protective case for when the Leapster is not in use -- that's the lesson we learned the hard way. However, I suggest buying a cheaper case than the one sold for the Leapster (for example: I bought one for half the price that I found in the camera and computer accessories section at Walmart, that was marketed for small portable hard drives, and had the same dimensions as the Leapster).
Leapster 2 is a good new edition. One can download additional free games from the Internet for it for example (a couple of games are now finally available for download, so the initial deployment issue has been resolved). You need to buy an SD card for this to work. Even though the manufacturer recommends 256 MB SD card or less, we bought one with 1 GB and it works well (256 MB cards are harder to get nowadays).
We like that the built-in games stay available in Leapster 2, even when a game cartridge is inserted (an improvement over the original Leapster). The design of the hardware is sleeker looking, as well.
Overall, a very good product, and one of our son's favorite toys by far (he plays it daily in the car, and during wait-times, such as when waiting for the food to arrive at a restaurant). Our son is 2 years and 8 months by the way, and he had the original Leapster since he was 2 years old. He is a smart boy, but I assume not a genius, so the manufacturer's minimum recommended age is quite a bit off. |
Great educational toy
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| Review Date: October 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Jbr, Raleigh, NC |
The leapster 2 is fantastic, great quality, my son has dropped it several times and nothing has happend to it. He loves the new games that came out to go with it and even the ones that are already on the system.
Its very educational too, he's learned to write all of the letters in he alphabet and do addition and subtraction. It really makes learning fun. Better than a game boy.
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Fun to play and educational
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| Review Date: September 15, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Roman, Bartlett, il United States |
| Son likes it and can use it without trouble. Cute games and I doubt he will even notice that it is educational. Only problem we have run into is that I cant get the SD card to be recognized which prevents us from downloading additional games online. |
Great toy for my lil one
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| Review Date: September 19, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Melissa Oxendale, FL United States |
My 4 year old loves her leapster. She loves to play on it and finds it very entertaining. It does eat through batteries but what electronics don't?
My daughter didn't need any help to get it up and running. She hasn't needed any parental intervention to play her games.
Her reading and letter recognition has gotten better, but she has also started pre-k, so I can't say it is all due to the leapster.
I would recommend this to other parents as a great toy. |
Great educational toy
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| Review Date: October 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Reagan's Mom, Charlotte, NC |
| Bought for my 3 year old for her birthday. She loves it! Especially the Read & Write game. It's great for car trips, waiting rooms, etc. and is teaching my daughter reading and math and having fun at the same time! Only problem I've ever had is that if she drops it, sometimes the screen loses it's ability to function with the pen. However, it is very easy to recalibrate. Can be done in like 15 seconds on the help menu and good as new! |
Very pleased!!!
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| Review Date: February 21, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Aquarius, |
Update 18-June-2010: Leapfrog has a new system. Apparently it will be on the market July 1, 2010. But you can pre-order it already. It has much more functionality then the Leapster2. The screen is better, it has more memory, and faster processor then the Leapster2. It can also be expanded with a camera-add-on, for taking pictures and video. If you don't have any Leapster system yet, I'd advise to check out the LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game System (Green). But if you already have the Leapster2, you may want to stick with it, since the games for Leapster2 are NOT compatible with the Explorer. That's not so good new for Leapster owners. Didj owners on the other hand won't have this issue, because the Didj games ARE compatible with the Explorer.
To check out all the Leapster Explorer's functionality and technical specs, look for it on the Leapfrog website. It looks very cool! I think, kids will love it!
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Review 20-feb-2010: First thing first. If your Leapster suddenly appears to be broken... seems unresponsive to the pencil,... don't panic. Chances are it just needs to be recalibrated. This happened to us a few days ago. Our sons Leapster suddenly appeared defect, ... At first I didn't think of it, and was immediately concerned it just broke. Then (thankfully) I remembered it could just be that it needs to be re-calibrated. I have no idea why the item suddenly needs recalibration,... it just happens.
Thing is, when this happens, and your kid comes to you for help, telling you "It's not working !???",... the first thing that comes to mind is "Oh no! It's broken already!???". There is no signal, no message, telling you that it might need recalibration. This time, after turning the item off and on a few times to no avail, I remembered reading somewhere that it probably (and hopefully) only had to be recalibrated. And indeed, it was just that. See the end of this review on how to recalibrate.
Now for the review.
We love the Leapster concept. A handheld system with educational games for young kids. By now, LeapFrog has a pretty extensive library of educational games. I've researched Nintendo DS to check as an alternative, but they have very few educational games. Even contacted their customer support and they were very responsive and very nice, but they have very few educational games. Apparently it's not a market Nintendo is interested in. In any case I find the DS way too expensive for a 5 year old anyway. The Leapster is somewhat better priced.
We find the games very educational. Currently we have 6 games: Thomas the Engine, Cars, Mr. Pencil, Backyardigans, Go Diego Go, and Chicken Cook. The last one we downloaded from LeapFrog. (You get to download one game free from LeapFrog with the Leapster2). Our son loves them all. His favorite currently is probably Thomas, but he plays (and learns) a lot with them all. We're thinking of expanding the collection with the Dora one, and/or SpongeBob.
With the Leapster 2, you can connect online to the LearningPath of LeapFrog. This is a great functionality, if you have the time to explore it. We hope to connect every two weeks or so. You can also explore new games here, and you can see trailers of the games which is a great way to get a feeling of the game before buying a new one. By the way, the first time you connect online, will be a bit strange. The Leapster will need to synchronize, and this will take a quite a while. In our case it took almost one hour. But you see no message, informing you of this. So you really don't know what's going on. I actually restarted the process several time, after 10 minutes or so, since I was first unaware of this. While I was trying this, I was also checking the LeapFrog site, and there's where I learned that the first time can take up to an hour. So then I just left it alone, till it was done. Thankfully this is only the first time. The next times you connect it will be a breeze.
The game cartridges will work on any of LeapFrog's system. That is the original Leapster, the L-Max, or the most recent Leapster-2. The L-Max you can connect to a TV and play the games on the much larger TV screen. But we didn't really use this with our first L-Max. We tried it only once, just to try it out. It worked, but it just isn't practical. And our son didn't miss it either. He just wants to play with the unit where ever he can, and not be attached to the TV. The Leapster-2 cannot be hooked to the TV but it has the much better functionality to connect online, and go to the LearningPath and download games etc. It's the only one of the three that has this functionality. And new games are being developed to make use of this feature to connect online. I really love this possibility to connect online. So I definitely recommend the Leapser-2 instead of any of the other two. I don't understand why they keep selling the original Leapster and L-Max anyway. Seems to me they should just faze them out, and concentrate on further developing the Leapster-2 or games for it. Ah well.
As for durability, ... it's yet to soon to tell. We rated 4 stars for now on durability, but it's really too soon to tell. Previously we had a L-Max, and it broke after 3 month's. (Which is why I researched Nintendo as an alternative.) We did get a replacement from LeapFrog but it took a while, so in the meantime we got this Leapster2. Currently in use for just one month. We really hope this Leapster2 will be much durable then the previous L-Max. I have good hopes it will, but only time will tell. You can read my review on the L-Max.Leapster L-Max Learning Game System
Batteries.
We use Duracell rechargeable batteries with this item. Although LeapFrog does not recommend using 3rd party rechargeable batteries. But I really don't understand why. They do have their own recharging stationm LeapFrog® Leapster®2 Recharging Station with rechargeable batteries for about [...], which I'm sure will also save you tons of money. But at first we weren't aware LeapFrog does not recommend 3rd party rechargeable batteries. Neither, that they sell their own rechargeable system. So we just got a Duracell rechargeable with corresponding batteries, for about [...] Duracell Value Charger With 4AA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF14DX4N. Have been using them for a while, also with the previous L-Max, and they work very well. Saved us tons of money on batteries! Very happy with it. Then one time I read by chance on the LeapFrog side that they don't recommend using 3rd party rechargeables. I was surprised, so I checked with them why. They replied something about 3rd party rechargeable batteries not being standard format, and some batteries being charged more then others ect ect.... Which to me made no sense. Duracell or Energizer, or any other main battery brand, not being standard??? I don't buy that. Just to be on the save side, I then checked with them if using 3rd party rechargeable batteries would harm or damage the unit in any way. They replied using 3rd party rechargeable will NOT harm or damage the unit in any way. So,.... I don't get it. Been using Duracell rechargeable batteries for quite a while now, and the unit works excellent with it. It seems they even last longer than normal batteries. By the way LeapFrog sells normal Duracell batteries on their side. Which makes me wonder even more about there point of 3rd party batteries not being standard.
Actually, now I think of it, if LeapFrog recommends not to use 3rd party rechargeable batteries, they should just sell their systems TOGETHER with their rechargeable system. Why have customers waste their money on normal batteries!?? This way they will help their customers save money on batteries from day one! Money that customers could use to buy additional games from them! Believe me, the 1st 2 or 3 weeks, you will be wasting money on normal batteries, till you realize you better get rechargeable batteries quick, before you go broke!!!
In any case, whether you use 3rd party, or LeapFrog's rechargeable system, you will save lots of money on batteries. And you probably will be very happy, no matter which one you get. So do yourself a favor and do get yourself either one of them. While you are at it, take also a look at the LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game Case. Very good for protecting the unit. Or if you need more space checkout the LeapFrog Leapster Messenger Bag.
The bottom line: First thing. Our son loves it. Plays and learns a lot with it.
Second, we do love the Leapster concept. We love the system, easy to use, good screen. We love the games, being both fun to play and educational. I guess the pricing of system and games is `ok'. It would be nice if they could go lower, but chances are that quality will then start to suffer. I do like the fact that they have a decent customer support. They respond rather fast. And finally I love the possibility to connect online. We just hope it will be durable and last for a good long time.
How to recalibrate:
The process to recalibrate is simple. You should find it on the LeapFrog website, but here is what I did:
1. turn off the item.
2. press and hold the `Hint' button, while the item is off.
3. press the on/off button to turn the item back on, while holding the `hint' button, (don't release the `hint' button)
4. the item will now turn on, and you will see a menu screen, with a couple of options.
5. touch with the pencil on the option "recalibrate"
(yes, the pencil should just work at this point)
6. you will get an empty screen, and a little small red circle with cross-hair will appear at one of the corners. Touch with the pencil at the center of the circle. The circle will disappear and another circle will appear at the next corner. Continue to touch each circle at the center. The last circle will appear in the middle of the screen. Touch it also at the center.
7. That's it. Turn off the system, and back on.
It should be back to normal.
Or go to the LeapFrog website, go to the support section and look for "Why doesn't my Leapster2 respond to the stylus pen?" in the FAQ.
You will find the instructions with pictures.
LeapFrog has a great website, with a support section, where you can find a pretty extensive list of all kinds of frequently asked questions with corresponding answers. If you don't find what you're looking for, you can send submit a question to them. You don't need to first go through all the listed questions, you can just write your question and submit it to them. They will respond by the next (work)day.
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Buy a leapster!
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| Review Date: March 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Kelly Thomas, |
| My husband and I both have teaching backgrounds, and I was initially against any kind of handheld device for fear of my children hovering over it for hours until their little eyes glazed over and their brains turned to mush. This was not the case. My 5 and 4 year old girls LOVE their leapsters (yes, we bought two). Generally, the games are educational and we don't feel like the girls' brains are going mushy. Also, it has kept their attention for months now. They play an average of 2-4 hours per week and still love it! You can't beat it on long car trips! Some of the games are duds-just check reviews carefully before purchasing. I would give it six stars if I could. |
Fantastic Gift! Totally entertains my 3 1/2 year old on plane.
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| Review Date: January 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mary Caldwell, phoenix |
| My 3 1/2 year old got this for Christmas and LOVES it! It entertains him in the car, on a 5+ hour plane trip and at restaurants. He prefers to use the stylus and sometimes has difficulty with the +/- button, but figures it out. He loves the 3 games he has - Wall E, Cars and Creature Create. I will need to get a few more games before the next long flight. He has dropped it many times and it has held up no problem. I did purchase the recharge station after we went through 3 sets of batterties the first week. Highly recommend for your 3-6 year old |
Great New Leapster!
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| Review Date: June 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: K. Griego, ohio |
| My son had two of the old leapsters and they kept shutting down so I bought this one hoping that that would do the trick. It did and is much better. He loves it! He is 4. |
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