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Mario's Early Years!

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Mario's Early Years!
CD collection cover art
Genre(s)Edutainment
Developer(s)The Software Toolworks
Publisher(s)The Software Toolworks
Mindscape(SNES)
Composer(s)Rob Wallace
Sam Powell
Platform(s)DOS,SNES
First releaseMario's Early Years! Preschool Fun(DOS)
  • NA:Q4, 1993
[1]
Latest releaseMario's Early Years! Preschool Fun(SNES)
November 1994

TheMario's Early Years!series is a trilogy of point-and-click educational games released onMS-DOSandSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystembyThe Software Toolworks.The three games consist ofFun with Letters,Fun with NumbersandPreschool Fun.

Gameplay[edit]

In each product, the player has a number of islands to choose from. Each island contains a different activity. The game highlights any items or characters which are clickable. Throughout the activities the player is prompted by voiced instructions and every word, letter or number is read out. The SNES versions of the products contain less activities than the original DOS ones. The SNES versions support theSNES Mouseperipheral.[citation needed]

Development[edit]

To create the games and ensure suitability for children, Software Toolworks hired child development specialists, educational research experts and speech and language teachers.[2]

Educational goals[edit]

The three games are each made up of several minigame activities designed to reinforce or foster basic skills[3]and help children in discovering aspects of everyday things, providing them many hours of entertainment.[4]The respective games help children recognise colors, letters and numbers.[5]Fun with Lettersteaches phonics to users.Fun with Numbersteaches grouping, separating and organising objects to/from a set as well as thinking about numbers through songs.[3]Preschool Funteaches learning materials for children on their first school year with a mix of Mathematics and English language.[6]All three products aid in promoting self-esteem, interaction between children and parents,[2]developing new skills and imagination as well as confidence and being positive about learning.[4]

Release[edit]

In the United Kingdom the games were released asMario Teaches Words,Mario Teaches SumsandMario's Playschoolrespectively. Software Toolworks also released a compilation on the PC titledMario's Early Years CD-ROM Collection,[3][7]also known asMario's Early Years! CD Deluxe.[2]The game were also released in the French and German languages.[8]

Reception[edit]

Computer Gaming Worldsaid that the PC version ofFun with Letters"has enough balance between active and passive activities to keep kids engaged for hours".[9]Nintendo Powerwrote in December 1994 thatPreschool Funnoted that the "simple learning activities provide lots of reward" but that "such simple activities without any game play elements will become tedious even to the youngest players over a short period" and that the digitized voice is "annoying".[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Mario Turns Schoolmaster".Electronic Games.Vol. 2, no. 1. Decker Publications. October 1993. p. 11.
  2. ^abc"Children soon to embark on learning adventures with Super Mario Bros".Standard-Speaker.April 16, 1994. p. 11.RetrievedSeptember 12,2019.
  3. ^abcdScisco, Peter (June 1994)."Education Reviews - Mario's Early Years!".CD-ROM Today.No. 6. Matt Firme. p. 107.
  4. ^abScisco, Peter (December 1993)."Fun + Learning = Mario's Early Years".Working Mother.McCall Publishing Co. p. 72.
  5. ^Scisco, Peter (August 1994)."Tyke Casting".CD-ROM Today.No. 7. Matt Firme. p. 41.
  6. ^"Mario's Playschool [v1.0.1]".Internet Archive.July 30, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 12,2019.
  7. ^Scisco, Peter (May 1994)."New! From the Software Toolworks!".Electronic Entertainment.No. 5.IDG.p. 113.
  8. ^Mindscape International Catalogue(PDF).Mindscape.1993. p. 8.
  9. ^Donovan, Felicia (March 1994)."Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters".Kids & Computers.Computer Gaming World.p. 134.
  10. ^"Now Playing".Nintendo Power.Vol. 67. Nintendo of America Inc. December 1994. p. 105.

External links[edit]

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