Our son got a Leapster 2 (from his grandparents) last Christmas — we’re happy that its educational, he’s happy because it’s fun!
It runs on AA batteries (for hours) and it comes with a built-in game. The controls are pretty straight-forward: arrow keys, A + B action keys, plus a Pause and Home button. Out of the box and its already ready to run. I just inserted the batteries and he started playing right away. He’s only 3+ by the way which says a lot about the Leapster’s ease of use and playability!  He repeats the games and don’t find them boring — though we had to make sure that the games were age-appropriate.

He’s happy even if he only has 2 games to play.  We might get him more soon as he’s close to finishing one of his games.  The only thing wrong with the Leapster 2 is that it’s designed for right-handed kids.  Our son is left-handed and has to be conscious of the placement of the stylus.  Not a big deal!  I just extended the stylus string so that it doesn’t feel awkward when he’s using it.

It also looks tough — tough enough to handle the use of a 3-year old.

Popularity: 38% [?]