Sesame Street: Countdown

Name: Sesame Street: Countdown
Year: 1992
Publisher: Hi-Tech Expressions
Developer: Riedel Software Productions
Genre: Educational
Hours Played: 2
Beaten: Yes

Sesame Street: Countdown was the last Sesame Street game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.  Like the previous game (and unlike the first two), the game was developed specifically for the NES, and includes digitized speech.

The first thing you'll notice about Sesame Street: Countdown is that there's two modes, Hop and Run.  My feelings about the game vary greatly depending on which mode you pick.  If you pick Run, the game becomes an adequate (if enemy-less) platformer, not unlike Mickey's Safari in Letterland. Each level starts with a wheel of chance, which determines the number you'll be searching for in that level.  You then walk around as the Count, occasionally jumping or climbing on obstacles, looking for the number, groupings of objects that equal the number (e.g. a cluster of four ghosts if your number is 4), and lightning bolts.  Grabbing these things will gain you a point, and grabbing a wrong number or grouping will cost you a life point.  You begin the game with nine life points and only a three point minimum to finish the level, but with each subsequent level you need one more point and have one less hit point.  The game's hit detection is slightly off, but I actually think this was on purpose; you can brush a wrong number without being punished for it.

Where the game falls apart is when you pick Hop.  The idea here is to make the game playable, even for very small children.  It's the same game, with the same levels and the same game of chance at the beginning, but all of the platforming is removed.  Instead, the numbers and item groups are spaced out an even distance from one another, and instead of moving with the D-pad, you use either A or B to hop.  A hops you to the next number or grouping, while B makes you hop straight up, collecting it (or taking a hit).  All of the Sesame Street NES games share this problem to a certain extent, but Countdown by far has it the worst: by trying to simplify the controls, they actually make them more confusing.  While using a D pad feels very intuitive, trying to figure out which button hops you in the right direction does not.  I have trouble picturing a four year old, or an elderly parental figure trying to play with their child, being able to figure this out, and anybody in-between those two ages should be playing with the normal controls anyways.

In the end, I'm torn.  The educational value is certainly there; The Count teaches you how to count at the end of each level, and collecting groupings of objects (instead of just the number) will help your kids learn how to apply counting instead of just memorizing it.  The game was clearly built around Run mode, and as a "baby's first platformer", it works.  Hop mode, however, is a mess, and it's also the default mode (you have to move the cursor to pick "Run"), meaning it's the first, and probably only, mode most people will play.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics here are fine.  The Count is instantly recognizable, which of course is the most important thing, The first level takes place on Sesame Street, and the remaining six levels take place in locales ranging from prehistoric times to the moon, and finishing with the Count's castle.  Everything is recognizable, but not much stands out.

Music & Sounds: 4 (Excellent)
The Count talks!  The digitized voice here is very good, and the Count's counting sounds very natural, which is harder to pull off with digitized speech then you'd think (I'm looking at you, Mickey).  The music is fine as well, although I wish they'd included the classic theme song.

Controls & Level Design: 1 (Bad)
Honestly, I wish I could score the two modes as separate games.  Run mode controls pretty well, and being able to brush against an object without activating it, while annoying in most games, is actually a pretty nice touch here, as it means kids can accidentally bump into a wrong answer without getting penalized.  Hop mode, on the other hand, is inexcusably bad.

Story & Presentation: 2 (Average)
Like everything else with this game, I'm really torn on the presentation.  On the one hand, if you collect a lightning bolt, and you're already maxed out, the lightning bolt will fly up towards your status bar, ricochet off the lightning bolt tally box, and then fly exasperatedly away.  That's a really creative touch!  On the other hand, after beating a bonus challenge in the sky, the Count unceremoniously levitates  down the screen to the ground, making the game feel amateurish.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 1 (Bad)
Once again, I'm torn.  The random nature of which number you're looking for does give the game a little replayability, but by the time you finish the game's seven levels, you'll feel like you've seen everything the game has to offer.  If they had just left out Hop mode...

Total: 10 (Average)