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Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters: Difference between revisions
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|developer={{wp|Mindscape Group|The Software Toolworks}} (Mindscape) | |developer={{wp|Mindscape Group|The Software Toolworks}} (Mindscape) | ||
|publisher=The Software Toolworks | |publisher=The Software Toolworks | ||
|release='''MS-DOS:'''<br>1993<br>'''SNES:'''<br>October 1994<ref>http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/completeoldgameslist.pdf</ref> | |release='''MS-DOS:'''<br>1993<br>'''SNES:'''<br>October 1994<ref>{{cite|archive=web.archive.org/web/20120917022521/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/completeoldgameslist.pdf|title=Old Games List|format=PDF|publisher=Nintendo|accessdate=May 6, 2024}}</ref> | ||
|genre=[[Genre#Edutainment|Educational]] | |genre=[[Genre#Edutainment|Educational]] | ||
|modes=Single-player | |modes=Single-player | ||
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|input={{input|pcmouse=1|snesmouse=1}} | |input={{input|pcmouse=1|snesmouse=1}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters''''' (known as '''''Mario Teaches Words''''' for the United Kingdom's IBM-PC release<ref> | '''''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters''''' (known as '''''Mario Teaches Words''''' for the United Kingdom's IBM-PC release<ref>{{cite|url=x.com/MarioBrothBlog/status/1048236161670504449|title="In the UK, the educational PC titles "Mario's Early Years: Fun with Letters" and "Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers" were released as "Mario Teaches Words" and "Mario Teaches Sums", respectively; presumably to tie them in with Mario Teaches Typing."|author=Supper Mario Broth|publisher=X|date=October 5, 2018|accessdate=May 6, 2024}}</ref>) is one of several [[Genre#Edutainment|educational]] games of the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]. Developed and published by The Software Toolworks and licensed by [[Nintendo]], this game was released for the MS-DOS in 1993 and [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] in 1994. It was produced as a predecessor to ''[[Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers]]'' and ''[[Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun]]''. The concept of all three games is largely identical; they only differ in which tasks the player has to fulfill. | ||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
[[File: | [[File:MEY FWL CrazyCat.png|thumb|left|The player is shown the alphabet in Alphabet World.]] | ||
''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters'' | ''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters'' is intended to teach the basics of the English language to young children. The game gives the player the option to play either as [[Mario]] or [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]]. Which character is chosen does not affect gameplay at all, and is purely a matter of personal taste. The player controls the character indirectly by moving a cursor over the screen. By clicking somewhere on the screen, the player can make the character move to that spot. Clicking on an object will make the character interact with the object. | ||
The game begins on a selection screen, from which every world is accessible. The screen shows a view of the ocean and an archipelago of seven islands with various objects on top, representing the seven worlds of the game. On the bottom screen there is a raft carrying the three playable characters. The player can switch between characters here. | The game begins on a selection screen, from which every world is accessible. The screen shows a view of the ocean and an archipelago of seven islands with various objects on top, representing the seven worlds of the game. On the bottom screen there is a raft carrying the three playable characters. The player can switch between characters here. | ||
Each world in the game presents a specific task to the player. These tasks range from filling in words to complete sentences, finding words that contain a specific sound, or aligning three objects that start with the same letter. The player usually has to pick the correct solution out of three or four options in order to complete the task. Each world features different rooms accessible through pipes, presenting slightly varying options and tasks to the player. Each task can be played in two different ways. They can either experiment freely with the given options, or they can wake up the sleeping [[Luigi]] in each room by clicking on him, who will then watch the player's actions. If Luigi is awake, he will compliment every right decision the player makes, and sometimes other characters will show up. Giving a certain amount of right answers makes the player advance to the next room, and eventually clear the world. However, since the game keeps no record of completed tasks, this does not serve any purpose. | Each world in the game presents a specific task to the player. These tasks range from filling in words to complete sentences, finding words that contain a specific sound, or aligning three objects that start with the same letter. The player usually has to pick the correct solution out of three or four options in order to complete the task. Each world features different rooms accessible through pipes, presenting slightly varying options and tasks to the player. Each task can be played in two different ways. They can either experiment freely with the given options, or they can wake up the sleeping [[Luigi]] in each room by clicking on him, who will then watch the player's actions. If Luigi is awake, he will compliment every right decision the player makes, and sometimes other characters will show up. Giving a certain amount of right answers makes the player advance to the next room, and eventually clear the world. However, since the game keeps no record of completed tasks, this does not serve any purpose. | ||
{{br|left}} | {{br|left}} | ||
==Worlds== | ==Worlds== | ||
*[[First Letter World]] | *[[First Letter World]] | ||
*[[Vowel World]] | *[[Vowel World]] | ||
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==Audio== | ==Audio== | ||
''Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters'' features voice acting for all of its dialogue. The narration is done by a child's voice, with prerecorded words pasted together to form sentences. Luigi also speaks a few lines during the game's tasks. His dialogue is not pasted together, though. The soundtrack of the game features original and remixed versions of ''[[Super Mario World]]''{{'}}s music, and also some common nursery rhymes such as "{{wp|Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star}}" and "{{wp|Itsy Bitsy Spider}}." The sound effects of the game have been taken from ''Super Mario World'' as well. | |||
==Console differences== | ==Console differences== | ||
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MEY FWL CrazyCat.png|Crazy Cat | MEY FWL CrazyCat.png|Crazy Cat | ||
Sentence World.png|Sentence World | Sentence World.png|Sentence World | ||
MEY FWL Selection.png| | MEY FWL Selection.png|World map (SNES) | ||
First letter world.png|First Letter World | First letter world.png|First Letter World | ||
Vowel world.png|Vowel World | Vowel world.png|Vowel World | ||
Sentence World.png|Sentence World | |||
Mario's Early Years Logo.png|Main logo | Mario's Early Years Logo.png|Main logo | ||
IggyJumpsMS-DOS.gif|[[Iggy Koopa|Icky Iggy]] (MS-DOS) | IggyJumpsMS-DOS.gif|[[Iggy Koopa|Icky Iggy]] (MS-DOS) | ||
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MarioWalkEarlyYearsDos.gif|[[Mario]] (MS-DOS) | MarioWalkEarlyYearsDos.gif|[[Mario]] (MS-DOS) | ||
MarioEarlyYearsFunLetters.png|[[Mario]] (MS-DOS) | MarioEarlyYearsFunLetters.png|[[Mario]] (MS-DOS) | ||
MarioWalkFunLettersSNESUnused.gif|[[Mario]] (SNES) ( | MarioWalkFunLettersSNESUnused.gif|[[Mario]] (SNES) (unused sprites) | ||
MEYFWLSNESLuigiSprite.png|[[Luigi]] | MEYFWLSNESLuigiSprite.png|[[Luigi]] | ||
File:LuigiMadFunWithLetters.gif|[[Luigi]] (MS-DOS) | File:LuigiMadFunWithLetters.gif|[[Luigi]] (MS-DOS) | ||
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[[Category:Educational games]] | [[Category:Educational games]] | ||
[[Category:1994 games]] | [[Category:1994 games]] | ||
[[de:Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters]] | [[de:Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters]] | ||
[[it:Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters]] | [[it:Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters]] | ||