This early version is different from its PC counterpart with this version featuring six different stages to choose from and each with their own type of gameplay. Additionally, the player can choose these different locations at the main screen that has the player become Lowly Worm and fly around the map using his Apple Helicopter. It also features many characters from Scarry's children's books.
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I played this back on the Sega Channel and was excited to play an ESRB EC rated game. A podcast brought up the name of this IP and it brought back memories of playing it as a kid. So I checked out the achievements and saw it would be an easy mastery! But boy howdy, the deli and the delivery parts of the game seem to go on forever. And all I could think is, this world doesn't have child labor laws.
It wasn't good, but I could play it at the library.
Edutainment is a bit of an unsung genre I think then it comes to game design. You have to make a game that not only gets the attention of younger kids without using violence or poop jokes, but also not bore them to death with numbers and history subjects.
Richard Scarry's Busytown here does a pretty damn good job of it. It's probably the nostalgia keeping me invested, but as an adult I did end up putting some time into it's mini-games which I think speaks volumes for how much it would probably hold the attention of a child. Although I will say The Wind game is a bit suspect, but I can see a four year old doing nothing but blowing Mr. Frumble's hat around for ten minutes so maybe it actually is genius.
What is technically impressive about Busytown is the amount of voice in it. There's a ton of clips here and many of them sound very clear coming off the Genesis. The music also deserves a shoutout, it's very pleasant to listen to and has zero roughness or twang whatsoever. Good stuff. Just remember to turn your TV volume back down afterwards, because this game's sound output is super low compared to other games, and it'll probably result in at least one blown eardrum when you put in Gunstar Heroes or something.
Richard Scarry's Busytown here does a pretty damn good job of it. It's probably the nostalgia keeping me invested, but as an adult I did end up putting some time into it's mini-games which I think speaks volumes for how much it would probably hold the attention of a child. Although I will say The Wind game is a bit suspect, but I can see a four year old doing nothing but blowing Mr. Frumble's hat around for ten minutes so maybe it actually is genius.
What is technically impressive about Busytown is the amount of voice in it. There's a ton of clips here and many of them sound very clear coming off the Genesis. The music also deserves a shoutout, it's very pleasant to listen to and has zero roughness or twang whatsoever. Good stuff. Just remember to turn your TV volume back down afterwards, because this game's sound output is super low compared to other games, and it'll probably result in at least one blown eardrum when you put in Gunstar Heroes or something.
A silly early education game for children. I recall playing it a lot.
A very well done kids game. A simple mini game collection spread through an open map. The game has big and colorful sprites. It's very very simple but good for it's target demographic. The cool thing is that it is entirely voiced. On the genesis at that. Very cool.
Shockingly good kids edutainment game honestly. Very detailed sprite art, lots of voice clips, very authentic to the original Busytown books, and the mini-games are all actually fun activities and not static math or spelling problems. 5-year-old me really loved this game and I could see young children still liking it today.