Throughout gaming history, there have been numerous game changing franchises. Starting with the experimental Tennis for Two, Atari proved that idea can be taken and polished, and subsequently change the face of gaming forever. The resultant Pong was responsible for the creating the gaming landscape that would experience various waves of change. Blizzards Diablo and Starcraft are still beloved franchises, despite years separating past releases and their sequels in development. The list goes on; Rare's Goldeneye, Bungie's Halo, Square's Final Fantasy VII, Shigeru Miyamoto's beloved Mario and Zelda, Capcom's Street Fighter 2 and Megaman 2, EA's Madden series, and many others too numerous to list exist as crowning achievements in the gaming world.

But for me, there is always going to be a single developer that stands above the rest. There is one that nurtured my love for gaming before I know what gaming really was.


Hail to the King, baby!

That's right, the learning company. Bitches.

Now I know that anyone older than 25 or so has completely tuned out at this point, but hear me out, I know there is at least one game that you've all played and loved.



That's right, the Oregon Motherfuckin' Trail. Now I know that this game was made by MECC in the 70's, and I've played that version on the Apple II with it's glorious monochrome screen. Despite this, my introduction to the series came late in the game, playing it on my fathers behemoth DOS machine when I was still a baby. This was the simulator that existed before simulators were cool. Specifically, this predated the wildly popular Sim City by over a decade. While the latter was out when I was capable of using a computer, I'll always remember the original version we had.

When we got our Gateway PC with Windows 98 in the late 90's, it came with the sequel Oregon trail 3. Many hours were lost to that, but I still concede the fact that the original was by far the most memorable and ground breaking. What other game has spawned as long a running joke as the simple statement "YOU HAVE DIED OF DYSENTERY"?



Besides Mole Golf, Think Quick was literally my first entry into the gaming world. Considering I played this before I had a Sega, I was barely three when me and my brother entered the castle in search of the scattered pieces of the magic Knight. I didn't understand why the Dragon needed to be slain initially, but the reasoning that he tore the Knight apart became reason enough for his downfall. I literally had nightmares about the slime worms after our first encounter, but finding the colored flower that put the first one to sleep killed that. There were keys to be found, doors to be opened, and dragons to be killed.



I can truthfully say that I have yet to find all of the pieces of the noble Knight. But I was playing a game that was made for people twice as old as I was, and therefore felt no shame in being unable to complete the trials. But still, something about the pastel glowing enticed me to repeatedly return and try again.

On game that I did play to completion was Treasure Mountain. Anyone who knows this game immediately knows the song that accompanied this adventure game. Going in search of clue bearing elves to find the object that was hidden was difficult, and fun. You had to be careful in using the net, because they were in very short supply.


LISTEN TO THE THE AUDITORY BLISS! (that's looped FOREVER. Also, skip to 6.25 for a midi treat

At the end of the day, when you had captured enough elves to find the keys and treasure chests, you trekked all the way to the summit of the mountain. You were going to see the elusive Master of Mischief. It was he who scattered the much sough after toys across the world of Shady Glen, but returning them was made difficult as he would knock you off of the precarious ladders. Each toy made your XP go up, and you got to keep one at the end of the day. Essentially it was a continuous fetch quest, where you had to read and do math to win. There were also simple logic puzzles. I played this game ahead of the recommended age again, but it was okay because my parents "games" in the car were actually the secretly teaching me how to read.

Honestly, we several of these games, ranging from other challenges with the Master of Mischief in Gizmos and Gadgets, Midnight Rescue!, Operation Neptune, and Treasure Mathstorm. Everyone was playing Math Blasters when I was in second and third grade, but I had no interest as I had already learned the skills through these games. Operation Neptune marks the end of my experience with The Learning Company. I was 10, and the science and mechanics based puzzles were amazingly fun to complete, despite the fact that it was homework disguised as a thrilling survival game.



My little brother came to the gaming scene a little late. Being five years younger than I was, he played Playstation much more than PC or even our Sega Genesis. Besides some Jumpstart Reading and other Jumpstart games, he never really bought into the whole educational game thing.

Regardless, I think The Learning Company deserves a whole lot of credit for disguising many aspects of learning into legitimately fun games. I feel like the the generation immediately following mine missed out on many opportunities to further their education by playing games.

Am I the only one that played these games, or do other people remember them as fondly as I do?