Mario's Early Years!
{{Short description|1993-1994 video games}}
{{Infobox video game series
|title = Mario's Early Years!
|image = Mario_Early_Years!_Cover_art.jpg
|caption = CD collection cover art
|developer = The Software Toolworks
|publisher = The Software Toolworks
Mindscape (SNES)
|composer = Rob Wallace
Sam Powell
|genre = Edutainment
|first release version = Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun (DOS)
|first release date= {{Video game release|NA|Q4, 1993}}{{Cite magazine |date=October 1993 |title=Mario Turns Schoolmaster |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic-Games-1993-10/page/n9 |magazine=Electronic Games |publisher=Decker Publications |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=11}}
|latest release version = Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun (SNES)
|latest release date = November 1994
}}
The Mario's Early Years! series is a trilogy of point-and-click educational games released on MS-DOS and Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by The Software Toolworks under license from Nintendo. The three games consist of Fun with Letters, Fun with Numbers and Preschool Fun.
Gameplay
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 the SNES Mouse peripheral.{{cn|date=December 2022}}
Development
To create the games and ensure suitability for children, Software Toolworks hired child development specialists, educational research experts and speech and language teachers.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/59913829/ |title=Children soon to embark on learning adventures with Super Mario Bros. |date=April 16, 1994 |newspaper=Standard-Speaker |page=11 |access-date=September 12, 2019 |language=en-US}}
Educational goals
The three games are each made up of several minigame activities designed to reinforce or foster basic skills and help children in discovering aspects of everyday things, providing them many hours of entertainment.{{cite magazine |last=Scisco |first=Peter |title=Fun + Learning = Mario's Early Years |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9py0wju6wDEC&pg=PA72 |magazine=Working Mother |publisher=McCall Publishing Co. |date=December 1993 |page=72 |access-date=2020-09-15 |archive-date=2023-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009185238/https://books.google.com/books?id=9py0wju6wDEC&pg=PA72 |url-status=live }} The respective games help children recognise colors, letters and numbers.{{cite magazine|last=Scisco |first=Peter |title=Tyke Casting |url=https://archive.org/details/CDROMToday07AugSep1994/page/n41 |magazine=CD-ROM Today |issue=7 |publisher=Matt Firme |date=August 1994 |page=41}} Fun with Letters teaches phonics to users. Fun with Numbers teaches grouping, separating and organising objects to/from a set as well as thinking about numbers through songs. Preschool Fun teaches learning materials for children on their first school year with a mix of Mathematics and English language.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/marios-playschool-doscd-v1_0_1 |title=Mario's Playschool [v1.0.1] |date=July 30, 2015 |work=Internet Archive |accessdate=September 12, 2019}} All three products aid in promoting self-esteem, interaction between children and parents, developing new skills and imagination as well as confidence and being positive about learning.
Release
In the United Kingdom the games were released as Mario Teaches Words, Mario Teaches Sums and Mario's Playschool respectively. Software Toolworks also released a compilation on the PC titled Mario's Early Years CD-ROM Collection,{{cite magazine|last=Scisco |first=Peter |title=Education Reviews - Mario's Early Years! |url=https://archive.org/details/CDROMToday06JunJul1994/page/n107 |magazine=CD-ROM Today |issue=6 |publisher=Matt Firme |date=June 1994 |page=107}}{{cite magazine|last=Scisco |first=Peter |title=New! From the Software Toolworks! |url=https://archive.org/details/ElectronicEntertainment05May1994/page/n115 |magazine=Electronic Entertainment |issue=5 |publisher=IDG |date=May 1994 |page=113}} also known as Mario's Early Years! CD Deluxe. The game were also released in the French and German languages.{{cite book |url=http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23568_game_extra_1.pdf |date=1993 |title=Mindscape International Catalogue |publisher=Mindscape |page=8 |access-date=2019-09-13 |archive-date=2022-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410190019/http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23568_game_extra_1.pdf |url-status=live }}
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| rev1 = CD-ROM Today
| rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}} (DOS)
}}
Computer Gaming World said that the PC version of Fun with Letters "has enough balance between active and passive activities to keep kids engaged for hours".{{Cite magazine |last=Donovan |first=Felicia |date=March 1994 |title=Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters |department=Kids & Computers |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_116/page/n133 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |page=134}} Nintendo Power wrote in December 1994 that Preschool Fun noted 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".{{cite magazine|date=December 1994|title=Now Playing|url=https://archive.org/stream/NintendoPower1988-2004/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20067%20%28December%201994%29#page/n111/mode/2up|magazine=Nintendo Power|publisher=Nintendo of America Inc.|volume=67|page=105}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/marios-early-years-preschool-fun|name=Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun}}
- {{moby game|id=/marios-early-years-fun-with-letters|name=Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters}}
- {{moby game|id=/marios-early-years-fun-with-numbers|name=Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers}}
{{Mario educational games}}
Category:Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Category:Video games developed in the United States
Category:Video games scored by Sam Powell