Madeline European Adventures

Madeline European Adventures
Developer(s) The Learning Company
Publisher(s) Creative Wonders
Distributor(s) Vortex Media Arts
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Mac OS
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Educational

Madeline European Adventures is a point and click adventure game developed and published by The Learning Company and Creative Wonders in 1996. It is a part of the Madeline media franchise. The game is for ages 5 and up.[1]

Production

The game comes with a "user's guide", which provides helpful hints - essentially a walkthrough - to a player who is stuck or a "parent who wants to understand the game-play quickly and easily in order to help a younger child".[1] Superkids explains "problem solving skills are exercised throughout the program...there are subtle lessons in everything from fine motor skills to letter recognition and spelling to introduction to French and Spanish.[1] KidsSoftware explains that as a piece of edutainment, "The program is designed to expose the player to European countries, including flags, capitals, and some of the more important geographical facts of some of these countries."[2] They also aim to build "critical thinking and creativity skills".[3] The game mechanics allow the player to "simulate excursions through space".[4]

Madeline Thinking Games Deluxe was a 2-disc set repackaging of the two previously released titles: Madeline Thinking Games and Madeline European Adventures, the latter being a bonus disc[3][5]

Plot and gameplay

World Village explains: "This game begins by telling a story to set the stage for Madeline’s adventure in Europe. On her way to the Paris train station with Miss Clavel and the other girls from school, Madeline spots a thief making off with a magic lamp".[6] Superkids explains: "The game takes the player on a journey—a quest of sorts. Madeline must recover a magic lantern and its genie that was stolen from her at the outset of the story. To do so, she must travel from France to Switzerland, Italy, and finally to Turkey. In each of these countries she must accomplish certain tasks to advance...Madeline gets her passport stamped in each country. She also makes purchases, exchanges her currency for the local scrip, and sends a postcard (which can be decorated by the player) home to Miss Clavell."[1] Activities include picture sequencing, rug matching, music box game, painting, word games, countries[6] logic problems, memory games, and critical thinking.[2]

Critical reception

SuperKids said "This software title is as charming as its beloved French heroine. Any child who has enjoyed the Madeline books and videos is sure to love Madeline's European Adventure." It explained "the user [is given] a friendly feel for the country and its environs. The settings are engagingly animated, with a variety of creative and endearing characters". It notes "each one [of the puzzles are] challenging but not so difficult as to become frustrating." It said that each instance of the subtle education was "refreshingly discreet and enjoyable". It added "From start to finish this game is as captivating as it is endearing. Although a younger child may require some assistance, all will want to come back to this story again and again. The story is well thought through and reaches a satisfying conclusion; the characters are tried and true favorites; and the locales are intriguing and inspiring". It said "Every aspect of the game from its animation and sound to the tale it weaves is delightful", and game it 5/5 stars in each of the 3 categories of Education, Kid Appeal, and Parent Friendly.[1]

World Village said " I liked this program better than Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show because it had more activities and learning opportunities and it wasn’t quite as obscure with hidden objects". Its main criticism was that the game didn't provide different difficulty levels, and that it had little replay value. It added "There’s lots of cute graphics, music, voices and sound effects, but nothing much out of the ordinary", though disliked the slow transitions between scenes and the audio quality. It gave the game Ease of Use 3, Learning Value 3, Entertainment Value 4, Graphics 4, Sound 2 - and an overall score of 3/5 stars.[6] AllGame gave a 2 and a half star rating, though noting its themes of "Epic Journey" and "Female Protagonist".[7]

Kids Software game the game 3/5 stars, saying "The plot line keeps it exciting, the rhyming makes it familiar and fun, and at the center of it all is Madeline: clever, brash, and unflappable." It however added "while the scenery and characters are consistent with the countries, there really is no explicit learning component about these places."[2] In 2001, Daily News cited the game as part of a growing trend of creating "high skill, not high kill" software games targeted at girls.[8] The Daily Gazette said Madeline European Adventures offered "slightly more challenging games" than Madeline Thinking Games (released the same year)[9]

New Trends in Software Methodologies, Tools and Techniques said this game, along with Madeline's Thinking Games and Madeline's Magnificent Puppet Show were "wonderful, wonderful, wonderful adventure based programs that involve critical thinking, problem solving".[10] Young Kids and Computers: A Parent's Survival Guide called the game an "engaging program", and gave it a 4 and a half star rating.[11]Complete Sourcebook on Children's Software gave both the game and the box set Madeline Thinking Games Deluxe a 4 and a half star rating.[12][13]

References

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