Cheap Chronicles of African Wildlife: Untamed Africa (Software) (Windows NT, Unix, Windows 98, Linux, Macintosh, Windows 2000) Price

The centerpiece of the software is a gory but fascinating two-hour-long video of Kenyan wildlife doing its thing. Start up the film, sit back, and watch buffalo being hunted, hyenas scrapping with lions, gazelles skipping through acacia groves, and so on. This video is narrated by John Hurt at his lugubrious best. The accompanying music is lush and atmospheric, the graphic quality is pretty good, and it offers a pleasing feature that lets viewers enter or leave the film wherever and whenever they like.

To flesh out this savanna-based soap opera, the French software makers have also included some intriguing ancillary aspects. Access the Characters section and you can follow the fates of individual animals like Mary the rhino or Simba the lion (yes, the names are a bit Disney). Click on the Discovery section and learn about each species, their diets, physiology, life cycles, and so forth. Other features allow you to follow your own "footprints" around the two CDs, study individual ecosystems and habitats, and even send an e-postcard with a picture of your favorite hippopotamus. And, let's face it, you can't do that watching TV. --Sean Thomas