JumpStart
| JumpStart | |
|---|---|
Series Logo
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| Genres | Edutainment |
| Developers | Fanfare Software |
| Publishers | Knowledge Adventure |
| Creators | Barton Listick |
| Platforms | Windows, Macintosh, Game Boy Color, Playstation, Wii, iPad |
| First release |
JumpStart Kindergarten November 14, 1994 |
'JumpStart' is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by Knowledge Adventure. The series is distributed as Jump Ahead in the United Kingdom. It originally consisted of a series of educational PC games, but has expanded to include workbooks, videos, iPad apps, and other media — including, perhaps most significantly, a massively multiplayer online game located at JumpStart.com, first launched March 10, 2009.
The first JumpStart game, JumpStart Kindergarten, was released in 1994. From that time up to 1998, the library was extended to include grades 1-6, as well as JumpStart Baby, Toddlers, and Pre-K. Circa 1997, games based on a particular subject, such as reading and math, were also released. The "Learning Games" series, focused more on arcade gameplay, was also released around this time, featuring JumpStart Spelling, Music, and Numbers. From about 1998-2000, significant updates were made to JumpStart Kindergarten, Preschool, and 1st Grade. In addition, JumpStart Toddlers and 4th Grade received complete revamps, bearing little resemblance to the original versions.
Starting circa 1999, a significant change was brought on in the JumpStart series, under the leadership of their Creative Director Marcela Cabrera, who re-developed the vision of the brand and produced the new visual identity of the software. Several of the characters in the Preschool-2nd Grade portion were given redesigns and merged into a single continuity. This started with the release of two 30-minute animated videos, JumpStart Preschool (occasionally subtitled "Who Left Their Juice on the Caboose?") and JumpStart Kindergarten (occasionally subtitled "Why Did the Bus Stop?"), and two new "Learning Games": JumpStart ABC's and Phonics, which tied into these videos. A separate JumpStart Phonics Learning System was also released at around this time. In 2001, each of the original grade-based games began to be repackaged with bonus discs. For example, a newly updated JumpStart Baby received Baby Book, and JumpStart Toddlers received My Learning Scrapbook. The JumpStart workbook series and the JumpStart Readers series were published by Scholastic circa 2001. Both series contained entries for Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade. In 2001, the "Early Discovery" series was launched. It included JumpStart Artist (which taught various aspects of art), Languages (which taught Spanish, French, and Japanese), Explorers (which taught various subjects, mostly history), and Animal Adventures (which taught zoology). The JumpStart Spy Masters series, aimed at older children, was also released. In 2002, The JumpStart Advanced series was released for grades PreK - 2. The series featured updated challenges and included a new feature, called the All-Star, that players could use to get help from various characters when needed. In 2003, the Advanced label was adopted by the entirety of the series, and each game was released in a three-disc pack with two related games. Also in 2003, a new series, "JumpStart Study Helpers", was released. The two games, JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster and Spelling Bee, were notable for allowing users to edit the math problems or words used in gameplay.
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