I apologize for the delay but I had an errand to run for my vax meal.
So today I decided to do something a little different for the reviews, a different title rather than have the games title in the thread title I try something a little bit better, considering that this the first game that was ever put out in the Cluefinders franchise (and the most well-known game for that matter) it was the thing The Learning Company needed to do more with themselves (like buying Mecc's library and buying the rights to Carmen Sandiego).
screw it I'm going to put a spoiler alert in here
Gameplay and Story: The opening cut scene shows Joni's uncle Doctor Horace Pythagoras get abducted by a monster called Mathra just as he is discussing with laptrap their own plan to go and find the keys to the lost city of Numeria, so laptrap contacts the Cluefinders, and well the pilot that gets our heroes to Doctor Pythagoras's campsite, tells the story of the Ancient City of Numeria and why the Numerians abandoned the city (it was because of Mathra, I don't know what they were afraid of, Joni's uncle being abducted was the first record of a human abduction by Mathra so...) so they arrive at the camp, laptrap, the flying turbo turtle explains what happened and of course he joins Joni and Santiago for the ride. They arrive at a fork in the path and there are two places to find the keys, the Monkey Kingdom where they encounter, well....Monkeys, the other bein the Goo Lagoon and they encounter plants that sound suspiciously like the the Beatles (well the Goo Lagoon is actually known as Liverpuddle...interesting pun) so eventually they do find the two keys, and the pilot does drop them off....in the wrong place, now here's the thing, there would have been a plot hole if it didn't turn out *spoiler alert* the pilot is the bad guy, Mathra is actually a fake it's actually and airplane that has a monster costume over it, because he was chasing people away from the lost city so he could collect animals for his fur company, so now they have to build the same trap that the Numerians used to trap the real Mathra in order to save the animals and Uncle Horace.
Graphics: Hey remember this is the VERY first Cluefinders game, but it considering that they launched the franchise in 1997, it shows that The Learning Company came a long way from the Reader Rabbit days when the graphics and designs don't look very good to a point where everything was released in 1997 and 1999, and 2001 (it's complicated)
Sound: You know the Cluefinders really have a habit of fitting theming with the background music, also this game has something that no other cluefinders game has.....SONGS! yes there are songs that are sung in both the Monkey Kingdom and the Goo Lagoon (because hey sure why not if you're going to have a bunch of talking plants that sound suspiciously like the Beatles you might as well have them sing a song that kind of sounds like For the Benefit of Mr.Kite......really of all the songs in their catalogue they choose one that doesn't really get radio play?) speaking of Beatles rip-offs when the Monkey King has a song, his band mates are conveniently named Davey, Mickey and Peter.
Addictive: Just by playing a demo version of this game got me hooked, and thanks to the library I was able to have a chance to play the full version.
Depth: The game is done in a three act structure, and it took me less than 90 minutes to complete the game...on level 1 (there's also a bonus act where Joni and Santiago are stuck in the jungle trees) this game offers many puzzles in this game it isn't like what we get in future games though which is a good thing.
Difficulty: This was aimed at 3rd graders but I first played this in the 5th grade like two months before I finished 5 grade and just before I got 6th grade adventures. And the first time I ever played this I got the the 3rd act....I wasn't able to finish but I eventually got the hang of it
Post review follow-up: This was a fun adventures for a first Cluefinders game, I wish it had taken off, I mean it should have gotten the same love that Carmen Sandiego got, there should have been a movie or a tv series (MAKE IT HAPPEN NETFLIX!!!! IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE TO CARMEN YOU CAN GIVE THE CLUEFINDERS THAT TREATMENT AS WELL).
This concludes my review join me tomorrow when I review the Cluefinders.......6th grade adventures Empire of the plant people
I apologize for the delay but I had an errand to run for my vax meal.
So today I decided to do something a little different for the reviews, a different title rather than have the games title in the thread title I try something a little bit better, considering that this the first game that was ever put out in the Cluefinders franchise (and the most well-known game for that matter) it was the thing The Learning Company needed to do more with themselves (like buying Mecc's library and buying the rights to Carmen Sandiego).
screw it I'm going to put a spoiler alert in here
Gameplay and Story: The opening cut scene shows Joni's uncle Doctor Horace Pythagoras get abducted by a monster called Mathra just as he is discussing with laptrap their own plan to go and find the keys to the lost city of Numeria, so laptrap contacts the Cluefinders, and well the pilot that gets our heroes to Doctor Pythagoras's campsite, tells the story of the Ancient City of Numeria and why the Numerians abandoned the city (it was because of Mathra, I don't know what they were afraid of, Joni's uncle being abducted was the first record of a human abduction by Mathra so...) so they arrive at the camp, laptrap, the flying turbo turtle explains what happened and of course he joins Joni and Santiago for the ride. They arrive at a fork in the path and there are two places to find the keys, the Monkey Kingdom where they encounter, well....Monkeys, the other bein the Goo Lagoon and they encounter plants that sound suspiciously like the the Beatles (well the Goo Lagoon is actually known as Liverpuddle...interesting pun) so eventually they do find the two keys, and the pilot does drop them off....in the wrong place, now here's the thing, there would have been a plot hole if it didn't turn out *spoiler alert* the pilot is the bad guy, Mathra is actually a fake it's actually and airplane that has a monster costume over it, because he was chasing people away from the lost city so he could collect animals for his fur company, so now they have to build the same trap that the Numerians used to trap the real Mathra in order to save the animals and Uncle Horace.
Graphics: Hey remember this is the VERY first Cluefinders game, but it considering that they launched the franchise in 1997, it shows that The Learning Company came a long way from the Reader Rabbit days when the graphics and designs don't look very good to a point where everything was released in 1997 and 1999, and 2001 (it's complicated)
Sound: You know the Cluefinders really have a habit of fitting theming with the background music, also this game has something that no other cluefinders game has.....SONGS! yes there are songs that are sung in both the Monkey Kingdom and the Goo Lagoon (because hey sure why not if you're going to have a bunch of talking plants that sound suspiciously like the Beatles you might as well have them sing a song that kind of sounds like For the Benefit of Mr.Kite......really of all the songs in their catalogue they choose one that doesn't really get radio play?) speaking of Beatles rip-offs when the Monkey King has a song, his band mates are conveniently named Davey, Mickey and Peter.
Addictive: Just by playing a demo version of this game got me hooked, and thanks to the library I was able to have a chance to play the full version.
Depth: The game is done in a three act structure, and it took me less than 90 minutes to complete the game...on level 1 (there's also a bonus act where Joni and Santiago are stuck in the jungle trees) this game offers many puzzles in this game it isn't like what we get in future games though which is a good thing.
Difficulty: This was aimed at 3rd graders but I first played this in the 5th grade like two months before I finished 5 grade and just before I got 6th grade adventures. And the first time I ever played this I got the the 3rd act....I wasn't able to finish but I eventually got the hang of it
Post review follow-up: This was a fun adventures for a first Cluefinders game, I wish it had taken off, I mean it should have gotten the same love that Carmen Sandiego got, there should have been a movie or a tv series (MAKE IT HAPPEN NETFLIX!!!! IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE TO CARMEN YOU CAN GIVE THE CLUEFINDERS THAT TREATMENT AS WELL).
This concludes my review join me tomorrow when I review the Cluefinders.......6th grade adventures Empire of the plant people 
User Notice 
