3-D Dinosaur Adventure

3-D Dinosaur Adventure is an educational video game by Knowledge Adventure released on CD-ROM for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1993. Versions for Macintosh and Windows 3.x were published in 1996. A 1997 re-release and an updated version for Macintosh and Microsoft Windows is titled 3-D Dinosaur Adventure: Anniversary Edition.

This article is about video computer game. For Underworld song, see Dinosaur Adventure 3D.
3-D Dinosaur Adventure
Developer(s)Knowledge Adventure
Publisher(s)Knowledge Adventure
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Macintosh, Windows
ReleaseDecember 20, 1993: MS-DOS
June 18, 1996: Mac, Win 3.x
1997: Windows
Genre(s)Educational
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

3-D Dinosaur Adventure is presented as a theme park, with areas for the player to explore, including an encyclopedia, a quiz, and a virtual museum. They offer insight into how dinosaurs lived and evolved. Additionally, activities teach players how to use fossil photo records and illustrations for visual recognition of dinosaurs.

The title comes packaged with 3D glasses and has special areas that make use of them.

There is also a Doom clone in which the player has to save the dinosaurs from the comet that is about to hit the Earth.

Development

As part of a co-publishing arrangement with Random House Inc. to develop multimedia titles on September 5, 1994, Random House also took over distribution-to-bookstores for current Knowledge Adventure titles such as 3-D Dinosaur Adventure.[1] On July 5, 1995, Random House Children's Books entered into an agreement where they would handle distribution of all Knowledge Adventure software titles in the U.K. and Ireland, given the right to repackage, reprice, and readjust wherever necessary for each target market.[2] The game was uploaded to the ZOOM-Platform.com website in 2014 alongside 3D Body Adventure, Space Adventure, and Undersea Adventure.[3]

Reception

The game was the third best selling Macintosh product in the week ending Oct 11, 1997.[4]

3-D Dinosaur Adventure was reviewed in the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Guide Book where it was praised for its "text, beautiful graphics, and amazing sound effects". Characterizing the program as one of "the programs to load on [an older child's computer] first", the authors warned that the programs were resource intensive, "tak[ing] nearly 10 megabytes of disc space [and requiring] a sound card to get the full effect".[5] Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond argued that the small Knowledge Adventure was able to produce a better game than Microsoft's Microsoft Dinosaurs.[6] The Educational Technology Handbook praised the game's animation sequences for bringing the experience to life in a way that students would remember.[7] PC Mag noted the high tech effects were limited,[8] though thought the title was a good reference tool.[9]

Retrospective reviews from the modern era have been more mixed. RetroJunk's 2009 review found the game to be innovative for its time.[10] Bustle's 2016 review, however, deemed the program little more than a glorified encyclopedia.[11]

Awards
  • 1994 – Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Platinum Award[5]
  • March 1994 – Electronic Entertainment Editors' Choice Awards: Best Edutainment Title (Honorable Mention)[12]
  • 1994's Best Overall Education Program by the Software Publishers Association as part of its Excellence in Software Awards Program.[13]
  • Top 100 CD-ROMs from PC Magazine 1994[9]

See also

References
  1. "K-Adventure gets backer. (Knowledge Adventure Inc. in deal with Random House Inc. to develop multimedia titles) (Mergers/Acquisitions/Alliances)". 5 September 1994. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018.
  2. "Knowledge Adventure in Random House deal. – Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  3. "ZOOM Announces Exclusive Release of Knowledge Adventure Back-Catalog – Lightning Releases". Lightning Releases. 2014-11-25. Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  4. "BESTSELLERS". 20 October 1997. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018.
  5. Oppenheim, Joanne and Stephanie (1993). "Computer Software/CD-ROM – Environments for Learning: 'Space Adventure/Dinosaur Adventure'". The Best Toys, Books & Videos for Kids. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Guide Book. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. p. 273. ISBN 0-06-273196-3.
  6. Nielsen, Jakob; NIELSEN, BIRGIT (30 April 1995). Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 9780125184083. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2021 – via Google Books.
  7. Hackbarth, Steven (30 April 1996). The Educational Technology Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide : Process and Products for Learning. Educational Technology. p. 224. ISBN 9780877782926 – via Internet Archive. 3-d Dinosaur Adventure.
  8. PC Mags. Ziff Davis, Inc. 1994-03-15. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  9. "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. 13 September 1994. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2021 – via Google Books.
  10. "Knowledge Adventure Games – Retro Junk Article". www.retrojunk.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  11. Peters, Lucia. "15 '90s Computer Games That Made Learning Fun". Bustle. Archived from the original on 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  12. Staff (March 1994). "The First Electronic Entertainment Editors' Choice Awards". Electronic Entertainment. 1 (3): 61–65.
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