Software Adaptation
| The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft Home |
| Distributor(s) | Microsoft Kids |
| Series | The Magic School Bus |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Macintosh) |
| Release date(s) | September 20, 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System is the first software game developed based on the Magic School Bus series (The Magic School Bus Explores the Human Body was released the same year.) In the game, Ms. Frizzle is lost as soon as the bus flies off into space and the goal of the game is to locate her using the clues she provides. The Friz's hiding place varies throughout the game.
As would become the standard for the remainder of the games in the original software series, the main screen consists of the bus's dashboard, where the user can "drive" the bus to any of the nine planets or Earth's moon. Since Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune lack solid surfaces, the bus instead lands on one of their moons (Io for Jupiter, Mimas for Saturn, Miranda for Uranus and Triton for Neptune.)
Once on a planet, the user can exit the bus, where a strange satellite called the "whatsit" must be clicked on to bring up an arcade-styled game in which the user, controlling one of the students, must collect one of Ms. Frizzle's tokens (giant coins with Ms. Frizzle's face on them) which provide the user with a clue as to the Friz's whereabouts and activate the "Friz-finder." There are only three clues available, but tokens will still need to be collected to activate the "Friz-finder" after all the clues have been exhausted. Clicking on the "Friz-finder" will determine whether Ms. Frizzle is anywhere on the current planet. If she is, then the game is completed, but if she is not then the user will have to collect another token to activate the "Friz-finder" to try again.
Read more about this topic: The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System
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