OCEAN

The focus is mainly on fun in three populous underwater scenes, but a few facts float past too.

Viewable in any order and accompanied by tinkling background music, cartoon “Coral Reef,” “Shark Reef” and “Deep Sea” settings present a mix of distinctive and recurring residents. All are depicted in loud colors, and most feature anthropomorphic touches, from smiles and blinking eyes to a natty shrimp’s spinning bow tie and pirate treasure draped about a grimacing great white shark. Many figures drift in and out of view, move or make a sound when tapped; sometimes they respond to repeated taps with silly surprises—like scallop shells that spring open to reveal a mermaid or a cupcake. There is no visible text, but touching an icon at the top of each scene freezes the action and activates audio IDs (available in no fewer than 12 languages) for selected creatures. Some IDs are generic (“Hello, I’m a fish…”), others more precise (“I’m an anglerfish”), and there are occasional disconnects with the pictures: “I’m a crab, and I have 10 legs,” declare two crabs with only eight visible legs each. Likewise, a copperband butterfly fish points out false “eye” spots that are not to be seen in the picture.

Less than ankle deep, informationwise, but all the color and movement should keep the Oshkosh set poking away for a while.