Blue's Birthday Adventure
{{Short description|1998 video game}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Blue's Birthday Adventure
| image = Blue birthday.png
| caption =
| developer = Humongous Entertainment
| publisher = Humongous Entertainment
| series = Blue's Clues
| engine = SCUMM
| released = {{Video game release|NA|September 1, 1998{{Cite web |date=August 25, 1998 |title=Humongous Entertainment And Nickelodeon Introduce Two New CD-ROMs Based on the Hit Preschool TV Show, Blue's Clues™ |url=http://www.humongous.com/parents/pr/more/news/bluesclues4.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000305224047fw_/http://www.humongous.com/parents/pr/more/news/bluesclues4.html |archive-date=March 5, 2000 |access-date=June 30, 2024 |website=Humongous Entertainment}}}}
| genre = Educational
| modes = Single-player
}}
Blue's Birthday Adventure is an educational video game for children from the ages of 3–6 years of age. The game is based on the pre-school television program Blue's Clues, specifically the episode "Blue's Birthday". It was developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. The game is about how Steve tries to find three clues to figure out what Blue wants to have for her birthday.
Gameplay
Blue's Birthday Adventure is packaged on two CD-ROMs, and each CD-ROM contains two scenarios in the form of questions. These are all themed around Steve, Blue's owner, preparing for Blue the dog's birthday party. Before play commences the player must first enter their name, date of birth and their favorite color.{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/11/technology/library-thinking-skills-blue-s-birthday-adventure.html |title = Library/Thinking Skills; Blue's Birthday Adventure |author = Slade, Margot |newspaper = The New York Times |date = 1999-02-11 |access-date = 2012-09-07}}{{cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19427 |title=Blue's Birthday Adventure - Review - Allgame |author=Lisa Karen Savignano |publisher=Allgame |access-date=February 18, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210213233/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19427 |archive-date=December 10, 2014}} Players control Steve during play, who breaks the fourth wall by directly speaking to players. The game shares many similarities with the television series. These include Steve being a live-action character appearing in a two-dimensional house designed to look like a paper cut out and Blue communicating by leaving blue paw prints in pertinent locations.{{cite news |url = https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19980906/2770454/tech-reviews----tvs-blues-clues-gets-cd-rom-home-version|title = Tech Reviews -- TV's Blue's Clues Gets CD-Rom Home Version |author = Kent, Steven |newspaper = The Seattle Times |date = 1998-09-05 |access-date = 2012-09-07}}
Once the scenario is selected the player must help Steve complete it by solving three problems, guiding him through the house in order to locate clues. Each problem is solved by finding clues which are marked by blue paw prints within the game. In order to locate clues players must interact with characters in the game and provide them with the items they require. Each clue found results in a task for the player. Once all the clues have been located and the tasks presented have been completed, the player helps Steve perform a song, such as the Blue's Clues theme tune.
The game is split into three difficulty levels; these affect the task which the player must complete when they discover a clue. For instance, at the lowest difficulty level a clue may be solved by picking the correct drawing shown on the screen, on the higher difficulty level the same task may require player to piece segments of the picture together in order to produce a complete picture.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
}}
PC Magazine rated the game as 6th place of the Top-Selling Retail Software.{{cite magazine |date=February 9, 1999 |title=PC Magazine, Volume 18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mi_RGvUW6eQC&q=%22humongous+entertainment%22+LCD&pg=PA10 |magazine=PC Magazine |issue=3 |page=10 |access-date=March 8, 2016}} The game was also nominated for "PC Children's Entertainment Title of the Year" and "PC Educational Title of the Year (0-8 years)" for the AIAS' 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.{{cite web |title=Second Interactive Achievement Awards - Computer |url=http://www.interactive.org/iaa/finalists_pc.html |website=Interactive.org |publisher=Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991104003923/http://www.interactive.org/iaa/finalists_pc.html |archive-date=November 4, 1999}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/blues-clues-blues-birthday-adventure}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/19981205114201/http://www.humongous.com/bluesclues/bluesclues9_9/makeblue/index.html]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/19981203120149/http://www.humongous.com/bluesclues/bluesclues9_9/bday/index.html]
{{Blue's Clues}}
{{Humongous|state=collapsed}}
Category:Blue's Clues (video game series)
Category:Children's educational video games
Category:Humongous Entertainment games
Category:North America-exclusive video games
Category:ScummVM-supported games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games about birthdays
Category:Video games based on animated television series
Category:Video games developed in the United States