Richard Scarry's Busytown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richard Scarry's Busytown |
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Cover art of the original 1993 release
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| Release date(s) | DOS:
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| Genre(s) | Edutainment |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Richard Scarry's Busytown is an educational video game released in 1993. It was made by Novotrade for young players. The game came out for computers using DOS and Apple Macintosh, and also for the Sega Genesis console.
This game is based on the "Best...Ever!" VHS video series. These videos came out before The Busy World of Richard Scarry TV show. In 1999, Pearson Software made a new version of the game. This updated version had new looks and sounds to match the TV show. The voice actors from the show also recorded new dialogue for the game.
Contents
Playing in Busytown
The game is like an interactive storybook written by Richard Scarry. Most of the time, you explore Busytown to find things to click on and interact with. You can use your game controller or a special mouse to do this.
What You Can Do
Young players can do many fun activities in the game. You can help build a house using tools. You might also deliver parts to fix a ship. The games are usually short and can be finished quickly.
You will see familiar characters from Richard Scarry's books, like Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm. One game lets you control the wind to create fun chaos at the Busytown park and beach.
Other activities around Busytown include:
- Helping Mr. Fix-it finish his newest invention.
- Assisting a patient at Dr. Diane's hospital.
- Delivering items all over Busytown.
- Helping Smokey the Firefighter get his fire engine ready.
- Working at a gas station.
- Filling orders at an automated deli.
- Learning simple math (addition and subtraction) on a seesaw.
- Helping Bananas Gorilla get his box of bananas from a park full of tourists.
All these games help you learn new vocabulary words. They also offer simple puzzles to improve your problem solving and English language skills.
Game Sounds and Characters
The characters in the game sound and act just like they do in the books and the animated TV series. This makes the game feel very real, like watching a cartoon. As you deliver items, the town slowly becomes more lively and busy.
It's important to know that the Sega Genesis version of the game is a bit different. It does not include the Mr. Fix-it, Dr. Diane, gas station, seesaw, or Bananas Gorilla parts of the game.
Sequel and Remake
Richard Scarry's Busytown had a sequel called Richard Scarry's How Things Work in Busytown. This game came out in 1994 in North America. Novotrade and Simon & Schuster released it.
How Things Work in Busytown
Like the first game, the sequel was made for kids from kindergarten to second grade. It was available for DOS and Macintosh computers. In this game, children learn how machines work, how to bake bread, and other everyday processes. It makes kids think about where food comes from and how things are made. You can learn in different ways and see different results. Young players can also learn new words, recognize words, and understand sequences.
The 1999 Remake
The first Busytown video game was remade in 1999. Simon & Schuster Software, Pearson Software, and Boston Animation worked on it. This new version was for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh computers.
The remake had better voice acting, graphics, and animation. It looked much more like The Busy World of Richard Scarry animated TV series. The TV show's theme song even played during the game's credits. The way you play the game stayed the same as the original. The original songs from the 1993 game were also included. However, some activities were removed, like the Bananas Gorilla game and a smaller seesaw game. These were taken out because they were similar to other parts of the game. Everything else from the original DOS version was kept in the remake.
