Saturday, June 4, 2011

Underrated 90's Computer Games

After viewing today's Google Homepage, I decided on making a new post about the 90's animated computer games that I loved that few ever talk about - many reminisce about Doom, Backyard Sports, Oregon Trail, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego...etc. But I'll list more of the lesser-known games that I loved as a young elementary school student in the mid-90's:

Ahh, yes. Busytown - a computer game based on author Richard Scarry's books and videos on VHS. I remember "Building a House", feeding "Bananas the Gorilla", putting out the fire from the Fire Station, and filling up too much gas with different vehicles - from a two-seater motorcycle to a full-scale bus. (If you click on the above picture, you will see what the game looks like on one person's computer)


The Humongous Enertainment series PRE-2000's. With games such as Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo (top left picture), Freddi Fish (bottom right photo) and Pajama Sam (not pictured), who could forget these classics? I basically lived off of the two Putt-Putt games pictured above (the other are small 'minigames' involving either Putt-Putt or Fatty Bear as computers in one-on-one games, such as Tangrams, Go Fish and Checkers, called "Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear's Activity Pack").


Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey

This was one of the first games where I learned how to read (obviously) based on simple animations. A classic game - but too bad there's no online video of the actual game. It's the first game that I actually completed from beginning to end, and installed on my Windows 95 computer by myself in Kindergarten.


This game - Gizmos and Gadgets - was my favorite from 2nd grade-onward. Once I knew how to read, I then played with LEGO's, K'NEX and this Learning Company game that's a classic for all elementary school students. Basically, the game involved elementary physics questions - with each question leading to the reward of a part to a transportation device - the more questions answered, the more and better parts earned. But, be careful of the roaming monkeys that steal your parts!

I never actually completed the entire game, for it was too long and got quite difficult for me. There were three different buildings involved, and I only got past the first two buildings - never the third and last building, so I never knew how the game officially ended.

In Part II of this theme, I'll cover the Jumpstart Series, SimCity 2000, The Incredible Machine 2, and The Cluefinders Series. Stay Tuned.

1 comment:

  1. You forgot the other gem from the Super Solvers series, "Midgnight Rescue". But I too devoted most of my childhood to trying to beat Gizmos and Gadgets.

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