Overall 6 Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 5 Story 3 Depth 2 Difficulty 4
6
Hello? Baby-sitters club classgame
So for those that recalled my “Why I was never into Harry Potter” thread I had said that I was never a heavy reader before the age of 11, however if I were to do my childhood over again (but in the 90s, I don’t want to be a child in this day and age) I would have read the Babysitters Club. This came out pretty late in the BSC’s run like in 1998 when they were about a year away from wrapping up the main series (yeah the series had plenty of spin-offs most notably Babysitters Little Sister which revolved around Kristy’s little Step-sister Karen) and making the finale series Friends Forever. Of course the Babysitters club has recently found a new audience thanks to the Graphic novels published by graphix and illustrated by the likes of Gabriela Epstein, Chan Chau, Gale Galligan and of course Raina Telgemier (her graphic novels are the best I do recommend them especially her graphic memoirs) as well as a short lived netflix series that got unfairly cancelled (geez it when will Abby get to be seen in live action media...more on that later I just hope the Graphic novels last long enough for her to make an appearance) Also this was released in the late 90s just when a wave of PC games meant for Girls was released (anyone remember Rocket? I’ve never played it but I’ve seen gameplay of it)
Gameplay and story: So it goes like this you are the newest student at Stoneybrook middle school and when you are trying to open your locker combo you are greeted by Claudia Kishi who is the Vice President of the Babysitters Club who welcomes you to Stoneybrook Middle School AND the Babysitters Cult I mean Club (uh, why? Considering how many members there already were at the time I would have been better off being an associate member, they don’t come to meetings and they only get jobs if everyone was booked solid for jobs) and then you are introduced to Mary Anne Spier (and you figure out how to pronounce her last name...it sounds like Spears) on the sign in screen and once you’ve signed in you are facing the lockers in the hallways of the school, so aside from Claudia and Mary Anne’s locker you also see Mallory Pike’s and....Dawn Schafer?! But she moved back to California for good in this point in the series (in fact she too had her own spin-off, California Diaries....it only lasted 15 books and zero super specials but I guess someone really wanted to see what Dawn was up to especially since her last book in the series was Dawn and Too Many Sitters) and why isn’t Kristy in this game she’s the president she should be the one hara- er I mean greeting me....well everyone else is in the 4th Grade Learning adventure game I haven’t played it, but Arglefumph has he’s known as a Nancy Drew gamer but he’s branched out and played other games even did a book tube channel (which I was the first to subscribe to I’m proud of that) so in this game you get to play in everyone’s lockers Mallory has a Language Arts game that’s in the form of a Mahjong game, Mary Anne’s puzzle is more of a math game when you put quilt patterns together, Claudia’s game you make your own art, and Dawn is basically an earth science game where you match stuff, (one level would have you clean up the park, a harder level would have you try and match and find something to recycle into) now your own locker has two games of its own one of which is where you have to help Claudia clean up her laundry before a Babysitters club meeting, and the other is a trivia game that does school subjects and about the Babysitters club (about the club members, their charges, and the series itself,) I haven’t read the entire series myself I only have one copy, however I had been following Arglefumph’s book reviews of the series and reading the graphic novels (I have book #32 but I have a special reason for that) and two copies of the finale series Friends Forever (I’m trying to find Graduation day). There’s no plot really it’s just that you are playing school subject games with members of the BSC and there’s nothing wrong with that....well at least Claudia isn’t hosting a spelling activity (anyone who has read the series would know that her spelling sucks, and it doesn’t even improve even by the time Friends Forever starts her spelling still stinks....why hasn’t it? This is why you had to be demoted back to the 7th grade for awhile Claud)
Graphics: Okay I shouldn’t nitpick about the casting but problem is Mallory is supposed to be 11, why does she look like she’s eight years old? I don’t think they got Mary Anne’s hair quite right even though it actually is supposed to be this short at this point in the series. The Hallway well there’s no concrete like way to describe how the lockers are supposed to look, however it is very colorful, like if Claudia designed it
Soundtrack: I like the intro music it’s actually used a good portion of this game (it’s very 90s), also once in awhile we’ll get some kind of phone call from members of the club, that are in the game it’s been awhile since I played but I stopped after 6 playings because I realized it had no ending
Addictive: Thing is, the Babysitters club kind of passed me by when they were popular, I mean they ended just as Pottermania took over the world, but even the BSC managed to fend off Goosebumps which was pretty popular in the mid 90s (they also shared a publisher so...) both had managed to co-exist, except I don’t think R.L. Stine ever had ghost writers...
Depth: Since this is not a game that’s in adventure mode and depending on whether or not you play all the games featured and on a certain level there’s no concrete depth, basically you can play all you want
Difficulty: It’s a game aimed at 3rd graders it’s not really that hard, except maybe the quilting pattern I couldn’t master that on level 3, also the art activity had only one set level
Post review follow up: How the hell did they not get a console game? I can easily see them getting a game boy game (and maybe Nintendo NES) but I guess Ann M Martin was picky about her most beloved characters (I mean maybe they would have given one to Babysitters Little Sister but in game boy form) also my copy came with the Clubhouse activity kit which I will review another time (with completely different actresses....I’m pretty sure of it but it’s hard to tell because the actresses weren’t credited in this game)
Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 5 Story 3 Depth 2 Difficulty 4
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-05-23
Review Replies: 0
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