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| Name: Mickey's Safari in Letterland Year; 1993 Publisher: Hi-Tech Expressions Developer: Beam Software Genre: Educational Hours Played: One Beaten: Yes, without cheats |
Letterland looks suspiciously like a world map. Mickey picks one of six locations, some of them real places (Yukon, Egypt) and some hilariously non-specific (Forest, Swamp). You play a short platforming level, and then it's back to the map. You're meant to play each location several times, traversing a different "stage" of that location each time, but the game doesn't communicate this very well. Once you've beaten every stage in a given location, it's picture is replaced with a Mickey face, and once every location is completed, the game is over. No final level here.
The stages themselves are pretty short. The main goal is getting to the stolen letter at the end, but there's also three letter gems on each board that, when collected, spell a word. Mickey lacks an attack, but the enemies only stun you for a couple seconds anyways; you can't die in this game. Mickey does have a butterfly net he can swing, but it's only used for picking up letters; I wish they'd left it out and just let you pick things up by touching them. Some of the areas are much more difficult then others (slippery slopes in the Yukon, hidden passages in Egypt), but there's nothing on the map screen to suggest this; in fact the cursor defaults to Yukon, which is one of the more difficult levels, instead of starting over an easier location like Forest.
All in all, Mickey's Adventures in Numberland is a better game, but I feel like Mickey's Safari in Letterland is more educational. My three-year-old sat on my lap while I played this, and he had a blast spelling the words out with Mickey. Unlike Numberland, which is basically a platformer with a couple math problems thrown in, I can see how a few rounds with this game could actually help him learn to read. Definitely the best educational game on the NES I've played so far.
Graphics & Animation: 3 (Good)
I'm well aware I'm going to get made fun of for giving Mickey's Safari in Letterland such a high overall score, but darn it if this game doesn't have some of the best graphics and sounds on the NES! There's cameos by plenty of different Disney characters, and they're all rendered in colorful oversized sprites. Now, I could argue all day why the sprite size in Ducktales fits the style of gameplay better, but when it comes to which one you're toddler will instantly recognize and identify with (and yes, I tested this), it's this game.
Music & Sounds: 4 (Excellent)
Mickey talks! This might not sound particularly impressive in today's age of branching dialog trees, but it was pretty impressive back in the days of the NES. You and I as adults may not be particularly thrilled to hear Mickey's high-pitched chirpy exclamations, but let's face it; we're not this game's target audience. My three-year-old, on the other hand, loved every second of it. And I have to admit, it definitely sounds like Mickey.
Controls & Level Design: 2 (Average)
The controls and level design are definitely skewed towards younger gamers, but it still plays like a platformer, meaning you still have to land jumps. This is where I'm torn; while the gamer in me wishes it were a little harder, the parent in me thinks this would be way too difficult for someone who's actually still learning the alphabet, as the game assumes. I doubt this is what the game designers intended, but it's probably best played exactly the way we played it: daddy at controls, toddler in lap.
Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
Did I mention the graphics? Everything here is bright and colorful, and even the menu screens are bursting with personality.
Length & Replayability: 3 (Average)
This game has a surprising amount of stages of a game of it's ilk (26, one for each letter of the alphabet!). It also has three difficulty levels that nicely tailor the game to your little one's skill level. It may not entertain older gamers for long, but for a younger gamer, you could do a lot worse...
Total: 15 (Good)
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