Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers

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Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers
Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers - Front Cover (DOS)
MS-DOS version
The Box Art.
SNES version
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer The Software Toolworks (Mindscape)
Publisher The Software Toolworks
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release date MS-DOS:
USA 1993[1][2]
Europe 1993[3]
SNES:
USA September 1994[4]
Language(s) English
French (France)
German
Genre Educational
Mode(s) Single player
Format
Super NES:
Game Pak
Home computer system:
Optical disc
Input
Super NES:
Home computer system:
Serial code(s) Super NES:
USA SNS-YR-USA

Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers (known as Mario Teaches Sums for the United Kingdom's IBM-PC release)[5] is an educational game. It was released for the MS-DOS in 1993 and the SNES in September 1994, following Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters and preceding Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun.

Gameplay

The player can click on any island to have Mario and Princess Peach sail over to there, and each island teaches a different math skill:

  • Number World: The goal is to find and click numbers to continue onward.
  • Counting World: Teaches counting through clicking objects in Mario's Kitchen and Mario's Bedroom.
  • Comparing World: There are objects to find and compare.
  • How Many World: Similar to Counting World except the player counts the objects themselves.
  • Shape World: Teaches about shapes and instructs which of them to click.
  • Same and Different World: Teaches about comparisons, with the player having to click the least relevant object.
  • Sorting World: The player is taught to sort similar objects.
  • Sing Song World: There are nursery rhymes re-enacted by the cast of the Super Mario franchise.

On any island, the player is required to click Luigi to wake him up before the learning activity can start.

Console differences

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System version is essentially a condensed variation of the PC version, like some other edutainment Super Mario titles of the time. The differences are listed below:

  • Unlike the PC version, the player cannot mute the audio, randomize the questions, or show text in worlds where it appears.
  • The home console version has no help screen featuring tips on learning outside of the program.
  • Sing Song World does not appear in the home console version.
  • Yoshi is a third playable character.
  • Some backgrounds are different.
  • When completing a level in the PC version, the scene transitions via an iris out on their character while they remain stationary. In the SNES version, the character walks over to and enters a Warp Pipe on the right side of the screen, followed by an iris out on the pipe's entrance.
    • On a related note, a Warp Pipe present at the top of the screen in the PC version allowing the player to exit the world was removed in the SNES version.
  • In the PC version, the loading screen when transitioning to different areas features Mario looking at a watch on his wrist. In the SNES version, it only features a black screen.

Regional differences

  • In the European PC CD-ROM version, at the start of the game, the player can choose a language between English, French, and German.

Staff

Main article: List of Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers staff

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
French Mario apprend à compter[3][6] Mario learns to count
German Marios Rechenkünste[7] Mario's calculation skills

Notes

The box of Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun Bundle, a presumably official bundle released in 1994.
Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun Bundle front cover
  • The Mario Teaches Sums version of the game was bundled with Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun and The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight under the name "Dr. Health'nstein's Body Fun Bundle."

References

  1. ^ "Mario's Early Years Preschool Fun (music, counting, colors and shapes), Mario's Early Years Fun With Numbers (numbers, counting and math), Mario's Early Years Fun With Letters (alphabet and pre-reading), and Mario's Time Machine (history) are all scheduled for release during the fourth quarter." – October 1993. Electronic Games Volume 2 Issue 1. Decker Publications (English). Page 11.
  2. ^ December 1993. Working Mother. McCall Publishing Co. (English). Page 72.
  3. ^ a b "Mario a disparu, Mario à l'école, Mario apprend à compter, Mario et la machine à remonter le temps. Disponible sur PC." ("Mario is Missing!, Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun, Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers, Mario's Time Machine. Available on PC.") – November 1993. Tilt Volume 119. Editions Mondiales S.A. (French). Page 75.
  4. ^ Old Games List (PDF). Nintendo. Retrieved May 6, 2024. (Archived September 17, 2012, 02:25:21 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  5. ^ Supper Mario Broth (October 5, 2018). "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.". X. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  6. ^ LuigiBlood (October 6, 2009). Mario Apprend a Compter (PC) (Français) - Intro. YouTube (French). Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  7. ^ LuigiBlood (October 6, 2009). Marios Rechenkünste (PC) (Deutsch) - Intro. YouTube (German). Retrieved September 7, 2024.