Educational Nintendo Arcade Ports - NES/Famicom

Aw hell yeah, that's enough actual games. Now it's time for LeapFrog learning, Japanese edition. I'm combining these two games because I don't think anyone can rightfully blame me for not wanting to do them individually.

----- Introduction -----

Shortly after the release of some of those home ports of Nintendo's arcade games, Nintendo set its sights on the edutainment industry. It seems like a natural fit-- a bunch of kids are playing your games, you put some education into those games, you get smarter entertainment for kids, happy parents, and everyone's having fun and spending money. Which is awesome; people spending money on your products is awesome. Maybe I should put a donation link on this blog...

A-anyway, I guess Nintendo's R&D team(s) decided it seemed easy enough to rework these arcade ports into the edutainment titles of the future, so that's what they did.

First they created Popeye no Eigo Asobi, or "Popeye's English Play," for you foreigners (which sounds like some kind of weird fetish porn). Shortly thereafter they created another one called Donkey Kong Jr. no Sansuu Asobi, which means "Donkey Kong Jr.'s Math Play," for you foreigners (which sounds like an even more unsettling kind of weird fetish porn).

Neither of the games were well received and pretty much marked the (at least temporary) ending of Nintendo's excursion into the edutainment """""industry""""".

But are they really so bad?

Donkey doesn't look very hopeful.

----- Playthrough -----

Let's start with Popeye's Leggo My Eggo Soba.

Who's the sap now, Popeye?

In this bastardization of a so-so arcade game, you play as Popeye, running around on the bottom playing hang-man to figure out what the heck those ching-chong letters say in English. It's refreshing to see that Popeye has come around since World War II and is now interested in becoming more cultured by teaching himself Japa-- waaaait a minute.

They never released the Japanese teaching version of the game, only the English teaching version for Japanese people! Oh, Popeye, you haven't changed at all have you!

"We owns every nation in the woyld!
Agagaga!"

The other mode in the game lets you run around trying to catch letters falling from the sky (a la the regular Popeye game) but in the correct order of the English word equivalent of one of the Japanese words shown at the top left of the screen.

Popeye teaches the important words to Japanese children, like "ball." And "ko-ori."

That's pretty much about all there is to say about that, so let's look at Donkey Kong Jr.'s Math Canoodling Hour.

The first mode is a very boring (at least with one person) two player game where the goal is to pick numbers and math operations that lead to the number that Donkey Kong is holding up on the top of the screen. I was too stupid to multiply something closer to it to begin with so I ended up adding 7s and 8s for what felt like 10 minutes trying to get to 95.

I have a feeling Donkey Kong didn't go to college and is grooming Jr. to be a first generation college student in his family.

The second mode is more interesting, and... weirdly enough, it's actually almost kind of fun. It's certainly a creative use of what was available in the original game.

After selecting a type of math problem you want to practice (I picked _ _ x _ _ _ format), you are given the problem, and have to climb up and down the ropes to select the number you wish to input for the solution. After inputting all the numbers, you fall to the ground and the game checks your math.

He really does look like he's experiencing some vicarious pride that his son can do basic arithmetic.

To be honest, it's actually kind of cool to see complicated math on the NES, which I associate with having a working limit of 255 for numbers in most games. If I knew more about the NES processor perhaps it wouldn't seem impressive to me, but at the moment it does. So, wow! Neat!

Unfortunately math isn't really that fun and doesn't make for a very good game when that's all there is to it, so I only did a few problems and quit.

----- Review -----

Does it even make sense for me to review these games...? Ah, whatever:

Intuitive Design: Good

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

Both of the games are pretty easy to understand and jump into, actually. Simple controls and simple premises help you see what the game wants you to do.

Satisfaction: Okay

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

I imagine if I was a Japanese kid trying to learn English, it would be satisfying hearing the little jingle and seeing the congratulations when I got the word right, at least for a little while. It's a little satisfying even as a 25 year old American man. As a Computer Science major, I'm also barely capable of doing basic arithmetic without a calculator, so getting a multiplication problem right by hand is a little rewarding as well.

Game Depth: ... Medium?

How deep is the gameplay?

Does having to know how to do arithmetic by hand count as game depth? If you don't remember you might have to look it up, the game doesn't teach you.

Sound Design: Minimal, Fine

How's the sound?

It's the same sound from Popeye and Donkey Kong Jr., little has changed.

Graphics: Fine

How's it look?

It's the same graphics from Popeye and Donkey Kong Jr.. The new area in DK Jr. to facilitate the math problems actually looks kinda nice at first glance, but anyway, it's basically just reused assets.

Personal Chord: No

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

If you thought it was unlikely these games would strike a personal chord with me, you may be catching on.

Play or Don't: If you need help with your math homework or speaking English

Should you waste your precious time?

If you fall into the latter category, I'm impressed you made it this far. I hope you learned something.

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