| Richard Scarry's Busytown | Boston Animation, Inc. / Simon & Schuster Interactive | 1993 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
This game takes place in the fictional world of Busytown, originally created by author/illustrator Richard Scarry for his educational picture books. Busytown is populated by cartoonish animals many of whom have typical and specific jobs in Busytown: policeman, fireman, schoolteacher, etc. Huckle Cat and his friend Lowly Worm star in this point and click game, often taking the place of the cursor during game play. From the main page - the town map - the player can select any location in the Busytown neighborhood to participate in an activity appropriate for that location. These include: The See-Saw - balance characters on a see-saw according to the numbers they are labeled with... an 8 on one end and a 5 and 3 on the other, for instance; The Fire Station - follow the instructions and a star-shaped "gleam" to load the fire truck, then put out a house fire; Bruno's Deli - find and serve the food each customer is asking for; Building a House - lay bricks and shingles and put other items into place at this construction site; Mr. Fixit - help Mr. Fixit build his latest invention by placing parts on his machine; The Delivery Truck - drive around Busytown delivering specific items, avoiding road construction and garbage cans; Dr. Diane - help Dr. Diane treat Norbert the Elephant's many ailments by placing bandaids and bandages on the named body parts; BusyTunes - play the jingles and songs and watch animation from each neighborhood location on the jukebox. The educational focus of Richard Scarry's Busytown is primarily on reading, as words for many objects in the game are given whether or not the activity on screen actually involves reading. Other early childhood skills covered are counting, shapes, adding and subtracting and following directions. It was remade in 1999 and featured improved voice acting, graphics and animation resembling the 1993 Busy World of Richard Scarry animated series. The gameplay is still the same and the original songs from the 1993 release are included. However, the Bananas Gorilla portion of the game was removed. | ||
|
1 2 |
|
||
