3D Dinosaur Adventure

3D Dinosaur Adventure (styled as 3-D Dinosaur Adventure) is a 1993 educational interactive CD-ROM by Knowledge Adventure and released on DOS, Macintosh, and Windows 3.x. The 1996 rerelease (released for Mac and Windows), it was known as 3-D Dinosaur Adventure: Anniversary Edition).

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

It should not be confused with Dinosaur Adventure 3-D, also released by Knowledge Adventure in 1999, whose plot revolved around recovering dino-eggs from around Paleo Island.[1]

Gameplay

3D Dinosaur Adventure is stylised as a theme park, with various 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.

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 3D Dinosaur Adventure.[2] 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.[3] The game was uploaded to the ZOOM-Platform.com website in 2014 alongside 3D Body Adventure, Space Adventure, and Undersea Adventure.[4]

Reception

Critical reception

3D 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 student 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 quite innovative for its time.[10] Bustle's 2016 review, however, deemed the program little more than a glorified encyclopedia.[11]

Commercial performance

The game was the third best selling Macintosh product in the week ending Oct 11, 1997.[12]

Awards
  • 1994 – Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award Platinum Award[5]
  • March 1994 – Electronic Entertainment Editors' Choice Awards: Best Edutainment Title (Honorable Mention)[13]
  • 1994's Best Overall Education Program by the Software Publishers Association as part of its Excellence in Software Awards Program.[14]
  • Top 100 CD-ROMs from PC Magazine 1994[9]

References
  1. Slade, Margot (1999-07-15). "LIBRARY/SCIENCE FOR CHILDREN; Virtual Experiments That Go 'Kaboom!'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  2. "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. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Knowledge Adventure in Random House deal. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  4. "ZOOM Announces Exclusive Release of Knowledge Adventure Back-Catalog - Lightning Releases". Lightning Releases. 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  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. 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 – 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. Inc, Ziff Davis (1994-03-15). PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc.
  9. Inc, Ziff Davis (13 September 1994). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. – via Google Books.
  10. "Knowledge Adventure Games - Retro Junk Article". www.retrojunk.com.
  11. Peters, Lucia. "15 '90s Computer Games That Made Learning Fun". Bustle. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  12. "BESTSELLERS". 20 October 1997. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Staff (March 1994). "The First Electronic Entertainment Editors' Choice Awards". Electronic Entertainment. 1 (3): 61–65.
  14. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/KNOWLEDGE+ADVENTURE%27S+ZOOMSCAPE+TECHNOLOGY+BASIS+FOR+FIRST+MARKETING...-a014922326
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