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Mixed-Up Mother Goose VGA (1991) - Mixed-Mode DOS CD

Postby reynolds » Sat Jun 22, 2019 10:26 am

The 1991 VGA remake of Sierra's beloved edutainment game Mixed-Up Mother Goose had several releases, most notably the enhanced CD-ROM version. This version was actually released before the usual 'no-frills' floppy version, in mid-1992 according to the file dates and the SCI version/interpreter info.

This was Sierra's very first CD-ROM release. According to Ken Allen himself, the original version of this remake used prerecorded CD audio (not Redbook audio, we'll get to that later) tracks for its music and sound rather than the usual sound card or synthesizer. According to these sources, Sierra obviously anticipated that not all CD-ROM drives had audio capabilities at the time, so they shipped every copy of the game with two different CDs: a red 'mixed-mode' disc for audio-capable CD-ROM drives and a blue 'data' disc that stored all music, sound and speech as data files to be played via a sound card or synthesizer. Though the sound of the latter disc was compressed and of comparatively lower quality, the game itself was probably easy to setup, had several different audio output options and there was enough room left on the CD to include four other spoken languages (German, French, Spanish and Japanese), so it's no small wonder this version would form the basis of the much more common DOS/Windows 'Multimedia PC' version Sierra would release from 1992 and onwards.

So, to review our brief publishing history:

- 1991 - MUMG VGA (DOS CD - Red 'Mixed-Mode' and Blue 'Data' Discs)
- 1992 - MUMG VGA (DOS/Windows 'Multimedia PC' CD)
- 1992 - MUMG VGA (DOS/Windows Floppy - apparently just a pared down version of the MPC version where only the rhymes are voiced)

As far as I know, these red and blue 1991 discs were DOS-only, and printed using the early High Sierra Format (HSF) rather than the usual Red Book/CD-DA or ISO 9660 format usually employed for mixed-mode and data discs, respectively. Sierra used HSF for most of their early CD releases, including Jones in the Fast Lane, Stellar 7, and King's Quest V.

I would very much like to see the original 1991 release of this game digitally preserved in some form or another, even if it were only the 'original' red mixed-mode DOS CD version. I've looked all over the internet and have found almost nothing about this particular version of the game. Very little info, no videos, no eBay listings, no ISOs, etc. It all just makes me so very, very curious!
reynolds
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