The Magic School Bus (video game series) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids The Magic School Bus
Genres	Educational
Developers	Music Pen, Scholastic

The The Magic School Bus is a fun series of educational software video games. These games were made by Music Pen and released by Microsoft through their Microsoft Home brand. They are based on the popular The Magic School Bus books and the TV show that aired on PBS. In these games, you get to go on exciting adventures with Ms. Frizzle and her class!

How the Games Were Made

Most of the first Magic School Bus games were created by a company called Music Pen Multimedia. They worked with Microsoft and Scholastic Press, which publishes the Magic School Bus books. Scholastic, who also made the TV show, allowed Microsoft to use their ideas for the games.

Microsoft wanted to make games for families, so they created a special brand called Microsoft Home. The Magic School Bus games became a big part of this. Music Pen, a company that started by teaching music, grew a lot when they got the contract to make these games.

The people who made the games talked to teachers and parents to make sure the games were helpful and fun. The series won many awards, like the Software Publisher's Association Codie award for Best Elementary Educational titles. It also received the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Just like the TV show, the bus in the CD-ROM games was animated. But in the games, the bus was often made with computer generated imagery (CGI). Most of the early games were based on the original Magic School Bus books. In almost all these games, you get to "drive" the bus. You usually click on the steering wheel to choose where to go.

Many games have seven different places to visit, including the classroom. In most games, you need to find a certain number of missing items. These games are made for children aged 5 to 10. They include lots of activities to help you learn new things.

Original Games

Explore the Solar System (1994)

This game is based on the book The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System and the TV episode The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space. You fly the bus to different planets and do cool experiments. Your goal is to find Ms. Frizzle! You play a "whatsit" game to get clues about where she is. Once you find her, the bus goes back to the classroom, and you can play again. You can visit all nine planets and Earth's Moon.

This game was praised for being full of facts and fun.

Explore the Human Body (1994-1995)

This game is based on the book The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body and the episode The Magic School Bus for Lunch. In this adventure, Arnold becomes the class's field trip! You can drive the bus to 12 different organs inside the human body. In some places, you can even leave the bus to explore more. Each spot has a game and a science experiment. This game was the first where you could sign in and go to the back of the bus. It's also one of the few games where Liz the lizard can talk.

Reviewers said this game was a great mix of experiments, explanations, and games.

Explore the Ocean (1995)

This game is based on The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor and the episode The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten. The class is at the beach and finds a message in a bottle with clues to a treasure! You explore the ocean and follow the clues to find the treasure. This was the first CD-ROM game to feature the whole class on the bus. It's also the only game where you can't visit the classroom. A Nintendo DS version of this game came out in 2011.

This game won an award for being one of the best programs of 1996. It was praised for mixing fun with learning.

Explore Inside the Earth (1996)

This game is based on the book The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth and the episode The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top. Arnold has lost some of his rock and mineral collection. You need to find four missing rocks. You explore places like a canyon, a geode, a fault, a volcano, and even an undersea environment. You can collect rocks in different ways. Your goal is to find replacements for Arnold's lost rocks and minerals.

This program was called both educational and entertaining.

Explore in the Age of Dinosaurs (1996)

This game is based on the book The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs and the episode The Busasaurus. Ms. Frizzle's photo album is missing three pictures of prehistoric animals. You travel back in time with the class to seven different dinosaur locations. You search for live dinosaurs to help replace the photos. When you find all three pictures, you get a cool mask of a prehistoric animal like a Tyrannosaurus rex or Brachiosaurus.

This game was also the first to have a closed captioning (CC) option for subtitles.

Explore the Rainforest (1997)

The class is getting ready for "Rainforest Day"! Wanda brought a special toolbox, but some "bio-clones" (four of them) are missing. Ms. Frizzle takes the class on a field trip to the Costa Rican rainforest to find the missing bio-clones. This game is based on the TV series episode In the Rainforest. This was the last game made by Music Pen.

Reviewers found this game fun and interesting, even on slower computers.

Explore Bugs (1999)

This game is based on the book Inside a Beehive and four TV episodes. The children have designed special biodomes for a contest, but each pair has lost one of the bugs from their projects. Your job is to find a specimen of each of the four missing bugs in different natural habitats. In each habitat, one of the children turns into a bug! For example, Arnold becomes an ambush bug in the meadow.

This game was praised for its high-quality multimedia and accurate information.

Explore the World of Animals (1999)

This game is based on two TV episodes, Hops Home and In the City. In this game, you need to find four animals that are in the wrong habitats and send them back to their correct homes. When you travel to certain habitats, one of the children will turn into an animal. For example, Arnold becomes a bullfrog in the swamp.

This was the first of two games made by KnowWonder Digital Mediaworks instead of Music Pen. This game was said to be "jampacked with unusual animals, interesting information, games, puzzles, and experiments."

Activity Centers

Like the last two original games, the activity center games were made by KnowWonder Digital Mediaworks.