I had a chance to try out the Leap Frog Leapster a while ago, and I finally got a chance to try out the Leapster2.

Those who might not be familiar with the Leapster should know it is a handheld gaming system with an educational focus, designed for kids ages 4-8. It would appear that very little has changed as far as the layout of the Leapster2 in comparison to the original Leapster.

What makes the Leapster2 different from the original is the ability to plug it in to the computer via USB. From there, a kid can download games, preview titles, and access the online rewards and bonus games that they have earned playing the cartridge games.

Another feature that is different that its predecessor is that it has space for an SD card. You can save programs like drawings or pictures to the cards, and thus print them out or view later, but the slot is in a very awkward place. The SD card slot is actually behind the battery pack, and removing the card after you are done is somewhat difficult.

In short, the online and slot feature is the only difference between the Leapster2 and the original. Oddly enough, Leapster2 games can actually be played on the original Leapster, and vice versa. This is very odd, because most new versions of gaming systems might play old versions of the games, but very rarely does the newest version of games play on older systems. It would be like Playstation3 games playing on the PS2.

You should be able to purchase the Leapster2 from the Leap Frog site for a price of about $59.99.