Jump Start 6th Grade Views

General Goods

As in the Learning Company's Reader Rabbit/The ClueFinders series, there is a clear divide between the products for second and third grade. The games for second grade and under typically feature anthropomorphic animals in bright, colorful settings, while the games for third grade and over feature principally human characters, with a villainous character who must be thwarted, in considerably less colorful settings. Though the divide is quite evident, there is some overlap, especially in the games for second and third graders. Additionally, villainous characters sometimes appear in games for second grade and under (such as Dr. O in JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade).

Originally, each grade level had its own character or set of characters. For example, in games for preschoolers and pre-kindergarteners, Casey Cat, Pierre Polar Bear, Kisha Koala and Eleanor Elephant were featured, while in games for kindergarteners, Mr. Hopsalot the rabbit was featured. This seemed to have changed, probably in the early 2000s, and characters began to appear in games that were not directed to their original grade level. There is still some traces of the grade level system, however; for example, C.J. Frog and Edison Firefly were originally second grade characters, and in JumpStart Advanced 2nd Grade, they are prominent, though characters from other grade levels do appear.

The original JumpStart games were created between 1994 and 1998 with a few upgrades. In 2000, all games were given new covers and a second disc. In 2002, most of the games were changed and given the title JumpStart Advanced . In 2003, all JumpStart Advanced products were given 3 discs and in 2007, 4 discs.

The JumpStart Advanced packages could be considered to be the games officially included in the series. They are grade-based and range from toddlers, preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1-6, with grades 4-6 bundled in one package. The first products to be called JumpStart Advanced were created in 2002; they ranged from Preschool to 2nd Grade and were intended to replace the previous versions of the games. Since then, bonus discs have been added, and the games for toddlers and grades 3-6 have been renamed and sold as JumpStart Advanced packages as well. Currently, all the games from toddlers-3rd grade contain 4 discs, with the 4th-6th grade package containing a total of 5 discs. The Fundamentals disc in the Preschool-2nd Grade packages is the JumpStart Advanced game that was released in 2002 (though it should be noted that some JumpStart Advanced packages have a factory error, meaning that they contain JumpStart 3D Virtual World games under the Fundamentals name).