Personal Background
Like many of the PC games you see me cover, I have played these at one point in my childhood. I actually had a hard time trying to find this one, because for the longest time no footage of it has surfaced on YouTube.
Game Background
At some point, you've either read or heard of Curious George. Curious George is a series of books centered on a monkey who explores the world around him and learns how things works. There's a lot to this world, so naturally the writers would have plenty to gear out. I've read a couple of books, remember one the most vividly, heard of the movie adaptation which actually got better reviews than other adaptations of other media, saw a few episodes of an ensuing TV series and that kept with the spirit of the books, and I played this game.
The game was developed by Houghton Mifflin Interactive, a publishing subsidiary of the book publisher Houghton Mifflin, the principal publisher of the Curios George books. It was developed by Vipah Interactive, who not only worked on additional Curious George games, but if casual research is anything to go by, they worked on the art design for Curious George books from the period. With a pairing like this, you'd think this game would be good, right?
Well yeah, but when you get to a certain age its intended novelty wears thin.
Gameplay
The game is set at the circus, with six attractions to choose from. Now you're probably wondering about that title. Yep, it's an educational game, hence that novelty factor. I won't judge the game based on the quality of its mini games, but its overall educational value and intuitive nature.
Comedy Clowns
The comedy clowns are a group of pairs of clowns that tell jokes. They get mixed up thanks to George and we have to get them paired with the right clown. The mechanic behind this game is more or less the same as others. In order to find the right clown, we have to click on the clown holding a picture. The narrator states we have to find a picture that begins with or ends with a certain letter. Find the right one, and you're rewarded with a joke, and since this is a children's game, the jokes are puns.
These jokes are only funny to one kind of person. One kind of person from a certain kind of cheap looking show where archetypes take heavy precedence over proper characterization. One person-
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| Fuck me, I can't escape from this damn show, can I? |
Fun House
You drag letters onto a sign to spell out a word representing a picture above. There's a bit of a challenge involved since the letter choices don't stay up forever, but there isn't that good of a payoff. Just a high-score at the end.
Sammy the Seal
What's a circus without a horn blowing seal? Problem is that the horns are broken and the only way to get them to work is to drag pictures to them, but be careful, those pictures need to have a certain vowel. For your troubles, you get to play along to a stock track, but you only get to add silly sound effects if you decide to join in. I do feel more rewarded for completing this than with Fun House though.
Animal Acrobats
All you have to do is click on one of three animals holding a picture of something that rhymes with a picture hanging above. On the upside, you get a performance at the end, consisting of the same animals you encounter in the game, so there is some sense of accomplishment to be had, both educationally and play-wise.
Peanut Pickup
Essentially a Pac-Man clone. I figured they'd throw this in as a little diversion, but nope that's not how Vipah slithers. You get to round up peanuts, but you have to look for vendors carrying balloons containing pictures of things that start with a certain letter. Do this twice and the round's over. You don't even have to collect all of the peanuts in this.
Story Theatre
The closest thing we have to a diversion. You get to choose from ten different stories. Each of them are harmless, some containing some morals, but at least the antagonist doesn't die to push a cockamamy moral. I only recall going through two of them. They're fine by little kid standards, and they don't suck to defy that.
On the upside, you could just read the stories. The educational aspect seems to be optional. Basically, you click on a flashing icon and then you have to find words that rhyme with a stated word or words that begin with the same letter. This sounds a bit annoying, but as I said you don't have to do this.
Overall Educationalness
Phonics is one of the simplest lessons one has to endure. The game went about this fairly well, I couldn't imagine a better way to do it honestly. But there is one serious strike against it, and that's the punishment for getting a wrong answer. If you slip up, the game not only scolds you, but forces you to listen to a hint before you try again. It makes you feel like an idiot who can't figure out your own mistakes. I don't know who this was aimed for, but it had to be for someone who's at that age where you have to be receptive.
My only other complaint is the over-abundance of educational games. Now sure, you need plenty of educational games, but you'd also need a break. Branch out and include some excursions, some personal rewards for your troubles. Even Sonic's Schoolhouse had these luxuries.
What do you get for all of your troubles? A printable certificate detailing your overall accuracy in the games you played. If you used this as your principal means of teaching your child phonics, I guess this would be a good way to determine how well they've done.
Graphics
As I've said before, this game shares the same principal design used in Curious George books from the period. For a game released at the start of the late-90s, it runs pretty well, save for some occasional choppiness. The character design looks nice and simple, it has a good use of color, geez that's a crazy way of saying the game looks easy on the eyes.
Voice Work
By PC game standards, the acting isn't too bad, but there is one thing I'd like to point out. During most of the games, whenever the vowel used in the game is said, it's represented through a text-to-speech voice. It's funny because a transition to it occurs while the narrator speaks. Imagine going from hearing Kevin Michael Richardson to Samuel L. Jackson in a matter of seconds.
Music
The music isn't too bad either. It compliments each level, but it's ultimately nothing I'd write home about. The only track I don't like is the Fun House one. It's a mess, and appropriate since I'd consider that to be my least favorite level.
Overall
Curious George is a simple pleasure, and it's worth a try if you love that monkey with all your might. As an educational game, I guess it works, it gets right to the point with what it intends to teach. I'd say it's forgettable at best, but since Curious George is so well-recognized, I doubt this game would leave your consciousness so easily.
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