Midnight Rescue! facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Midnight Rescue! |
|
|---|---|
Box art
|
|
| Developer(s) | The Learning Company |
| Publisher(s) | The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Macintosh |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Midnight Rescue! is a super fun computer game made by The Learning Company in 1989. It was designed for Windows and Macintosh computers. This game helps kids in grades three to five get better at reading and critical thinking.
The game is a side-scrolling adventure. Your main goal is to stop a school from vanishing by midnight! You need to figure out where the sneaky villain, Morty Maxwell, is hiding. To do this, you explore the halls of Shady Glen School. You'll find clues by reading different articles and answering questions about them. The game has lots of articles, from made-up diary entries to parts of famous books.
Midnight Rescue! was also part of bigger game collections later on. These included "Super Solvers Super Learning Collection" and "Super Solvers Reading Ages 9–12." In 1995, a new version of the game came out on CD-ROM.
Contents
Gameplay: Stop the Master of Mischief!
Midnight Rescue! is an exciting educational game. Your mission is to stop Morty Maxwell, also known as the Master of Mischief. He's a common bad guy in many of The Learning Company's Super Solvers games. Morty wants to use his robots to paint the whole school invisible by midnight!
To win, you must figure out which robot Morty is hiding inside. You do this by comparing photos of robots to clues. You get clues by reading passages found around the school. Then, you answer questions about what you read. You have only nine minutes to solve the mystery!
Robot Encounters and Clues
As you play, Morty's robot helpers will try to stop you. These robots are named Buffo, Lectro, Pogo, Rollo, and Turbo. They look like different kinds of paintbrushes. They will try to crash into you or throw things like marbles or pies. If they hit you, you lose either time (45 seconds) or film (one picture).
But here's a trick: if you take a picture of a robot with your camera before it hits you, the robot will run away! Taking photos helps you learn special things about each robot. These photos give you important information. You'll use this info to find out which robot Morty is hiding in.
Solving the Mystery
Once you have all four clues and photos of each robot, it's time to make your guess. You need to compare the clues you found from answering questions to the details in your robot photos. If you guess the correct robot where the Master of Mischief is hiding, you win! You also get bonus points based on how much film and time you have left. These points add to your total score.
If you guess wrong, or if you don't find enough information by midnight, you lose the game. One of the robots will cover you with invisible paint! But don't worry, losing a game doesn't affect your total score. You can always try again!
Getting Better and Harder Challenges
Every time you successfully complete the game, your total score goes up. As your score gets higher, you will move up in rank. This makes the game more challenging! At higher ranks, you might need more photos of each robot. The robots also move faster. Some articles around the school might not have clues, and the readings become more difficult.
Development: How the Game Was Made
The Super Solvers Series
Midnight Rescue! is part of The Learning Company's Super Solvers series. These computer games are special because they mix education with fun entertainment. Midnight Rescue! was the very first game released in this series. Other popular games in the Super Solvers series include OutNumbered!, Spellbound!, and Gizmos and Gadgets!.
Midnight Rescue! has over 200 different reading sections. These include letters and diary entries written by characters, as well as parts from famous novels. There are also more than 400 possible questions for these readings. This means you won't always get the same question for a passage! The game also helps you learn new words. It gives definitions and often pronunciations for over 500 words. By making you choose the correct robot, the game also helps you build strong deductive reasoning skills.
Music in the Game
Instead of making new songs, Midnight Rescue! uses famous classical music in the background. The music you hear at the start of the game and while walking in the school hallways is "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. When you are inside rooms, you'll hear "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. This piece comes from Henrik Ibsen's play, Peer Gynt.
Newer Versions of the Game
In 1995, a new version of Midnight Rescue! was released on CD-ROM. This version worked better with Windows computers. It also had slightly improved graphics and sounds.
Later, Midnight Rescue! was included in a special package called "Super Solvers Super Learning Collection!" This was one of the first times games were sold together in a bundle. This collection also included OutNumbered! and Spellbound!. Even later, Midnight Rescue! was combined with Spellbound! and sold as "Super Solvers Reading Ages 9–12."
