Starflyers
From left to right: Io, Katie Cadet, Superspinner AJ, Klanker and Vexar.
Genre(s)Adventure, Arcade, Edutainment
Developer(s)Riverdeep (The Learning Company brand)
Publisher(s)Riverdeep (The Learning Company brand)
Platform(s)Windows, Macintosh
First releaseStarflyers Royal Jewel Rescue
June 2002[1]
Latest releaseStarflyers Alien Space Chase
July 2002

Starflyers is an edutainment software franchise created in 2002 by Riverdeep under their The Learning Company label. The franchise consists of two games, Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue and Starflyers Alien Space Chase.

Concept

Plot

Katherine Diane Cadell (a girl with attitude) fantasizes herself and her best friend Ajay as intergalactic heroes Katie Cadet and Super Spinner AJ respectively teamed up with an alien dog named Io and a space robot named Klanker. Their missions consist of fighting against the evil Vexar (their neighborhood bully Victor Wexlar in reality). In "Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue", Katie Cadet is on a search for Princess Popcorn's missing jewels, in real life searching for her mother's scattered jewels. In "Starflyers Alien Space Chase", Katie Cadet is tasked with rescuing the galaxy's missing ambassadors kidnapped by Vexar, actually the class pets that were let loose in the school by Victor Wexlar. She is the galaxy's most famous star pilot. She uses a vehicle (known as the "SnoozeCruiser") to transport her team to various parts of the universe.

Gameplay

Both games have a mixture of arcade and adventure elements in them. In each game, the player is required to play 8 arcade-style minigames. The minigames have three adjustable levels of difficulty. To progress in the games, the player will also need to collect a currency called Galaxy Seeds. The game interface includes a control menu for storing tools and items found until the player finds the right place to use them. There are also printable activities available.

Design

Development

Starflyers had been in the planning stage since 1998.[2] According to the teaser made around 1999 or 2000, the trailer was released under the working title Katie Cadet.[3] Following an agreement with Immersion Corporation, the Touchsense Technology was implemented in both games for easier use of the mouse.[4] When Riverdeep acquired The Learning Company in September 2001, they marketed the games under TLC's name.[1] Along with Carmen Sandiego, ClueFinders, and Reader Rabbit, the Starflyers games were licensed to the KidsEdge Website in 2002 where they were available to play among 170 games and activities.[5][6]

Art

Managing artist Fred Dinada designed the Katie Cadet in 2001. Some of his artwork was salvaged from concepts that were not used in his previous project Reader Rabbit Preschool: Sparkle Star Rescue.[7] Additional artwork was added by Cat & Dog Productions, Igloo Animations,[8] and Tim Nelson.[9] Some lineart was worked on by Gerald Broas who used a 2B pencil to hand draw the backgrounds and characters on 12 field animation paper.[10] Animations and background were worked on by Fred Dianda. To allow all the content to fit on CD, all digitised images had to been converted from True colors to 256 colors and simplicity was applied to reduce quality loss.[11] The animation was produced and led by Eileen Gay.[12]

Educational goals

The Starflyers games consist of a good mix of arcade and puzzle games without any pressuring time limit to enhance players' critical thinking and problem solving, memory sequencing and creativity skills[13] as well as developing eye-hand coordination for mastering basic computer skills.[1]

Reception

Critical reception

PC Magazine gave "Royal Jewel Rescue" 4 out of 5 stars, marking it as an Excellent game.[14] A few months later that same magazine gave both games combined 5 out 5 stars, marking them as Outstanding and an Editor's Choice.[15]

Awards and nominations

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2002 Starflyers: Royal Jewel Rescue Parents' Choice Gold Award Won[16]
2002 Starflyers: Alien Space Chase Parents' Choice Gold Award Won[16]
2002 Starflyers: Royal Jewel Rescue Award of Excellence Won[17]
2002 Starflyers: Alien Space Chase Award of Excellence Won[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Riverdeep, Inc. (June 26, 2002). "Riverdeep Ships StarFlyers Alien Space Chase and Royal Jewel Rescue". Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  2. ↑ Solveig Zarubin. "Solveig Zarubin - Profile". Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ ""Katie Cadet" Starflyers prototype preview". YouTube. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  4. ↑ San Jose & Novato (July 30, 2001). "Partnership Brings Sense of Touch to Children's Software Market". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Impressive array of content gives KidsEdge a boost.(Arts and Lifestyle)". 2003-02-23. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ↑ "KidsEdge Home". MMIII Knowledge Kids Network, Inc. Archived from the original on June 19, 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  7. ↑ "An Interview with Fred Dianda". www.wordpress.com. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Igloo Animations - Cartoons". April 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Starflyers - Katie Cadet Design". April 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "The Art of Gerald Broas". Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ Fred Dianda. "Fred's Artwork". Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Eileen Gay - Reference" (PDF). Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ Ellen Beeman (March 2003). "Imagination Runs Wild at Broderbund/TLC". Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  14. ↑ Sarah Pike (June 30, 2002). "PCMag - Starflyers Royal Jewel Rescue". Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ Carol Ellison (September 3, 2002). "PCMag - Starflyers". Retrieved May 27, 2017. Altogether, this is the most imaginative new entry we've seen in the current year's lineup.
  16. 1 2 Media, Working Mother. "Working Mother: Dec 2002 - Jan 2003".
  17. ↑ "DiscoverySchool Royal Jewel Rescue - Review Corner". June 2002. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ "DiscoverySchool Alien Space Chase - Review Corner". July 2002. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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