Minecraft 4 Kids HD Minecraft Texture Pack (128 x 128)
An extremely high definition texture pack, Minecraft 4 Kids is probably one of the best HD Minecraft texture packs I've ever seen. Designed by a father who wanted to make Minecraft less terrifying for his kid, Minecraft Kids uses Cell Shading technology and high definition textures to create a world of high definition cartoon style wonder.
The environmental textures are very well done. I really like the way grass and dirt block sides make visual 'sense' with vertical textures that give the appearance of ledges. Other textures, like stone are also well done. They stand out much more from other textures around them, which aids in easy identification of substances. I'm particularly pleased with gravel, which actually looks like something you'd want to use to create paths and roads rather than static on a broken television screen.
Cobblestone is also done very nicely, although it is in the same cartoon style as the rest of the pack, I get the very real sense of a three dimensional soldiness when I look at it, which I have found is quite often missing in the 'realistic' texture packs that invariably look flat and awkward.
Animals have been reskinned most excellently, my favorite is probably the pig, who seems perpetually disillusioned with the world he finds himself in. Cows, by notable contrast, walk around in constant glee. Some might not appreciate the simple approach that's been taken, but I prefer it to the more 'realistic' attempts which seem to be done by people who have never actually seen a cow.
The GUI, which is often an issue with these high res texture packs, is very well done, as are the icons for tools. Because the emphasis was clearly on making Minecraft more accessible to children, this texture pack hasn't fallen into the traps that others tend to do. A great many HD texture packs have horrible GUI's and it's often difficult to tell what you actually have in your inventory. You won't have that problem with this texture pack.
My only complaint about this texture pack is the slight blurriness which is caused by the cell shader. Though the creator of the mod recommends using the cell shader, I actually uninstalled it after a few minutes of play because, to be quite honest, seeing things go blurry in front of me didn't add to the realism of the experience, it made me feel as if I'd forgotten my glasses momentarily. Without the cell shader, the texture pack worked much more effectively (in my opinion) your mileage may vary.
