JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Sapphire Falls

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JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Sapphire Falls is a personal computer game released by Knowledge Adventure in 2000 to replace their earlier JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island.

In the game, a hairy, bipedal creature invades an old, abandoned mine in the town of Sapphire Falls. Scaring away tourists, the creature succeeds in stealing a mysterious treasure map that no one has ever been able to read. Two aspiring fourth-grade reporters named Sally and T.J. along with their pint-sized dog Gizmo travel to the mine to solve the mystery.

[edit] Characters

• Sally - Sally Chu (spelling of last name uncertain) is skeptical of the creature's existence. Based on her last name and her vaugely Asian appearance, she is probably of Chinese descent. Sally is also featured in Adventure Challenge (also called Far-Out Field Trips, Ultimate Field Trips, and Exteme Field Trips), JumpStart SpyMasters: Unmask the Prankster and JumpStart SpyMasters: Max Strikes Back.
• T.J. - Thomas James Adams (spelling of last name uncertain) is convinced the creature is real and wants to photograph it as proof. He has sandy blond hair and carries a flash camera around his neck. Like Sally, he also appears in JumpStart Adventure Challenge, JumpStart SpyMasters: Unmask the Prankster and JumpStart SpyMasters: Max Strikes Back.
• Gizmo - Sally and T.J.'s semi-anthropomorphic pet dog, who can usually be seen on Sally's shoulder
• Ranger Addy Wise - the local ranger; her name is given in the "Tutor Times"
• Samual Branon Jr. - the mayor of Sapphire Falls, who wants to be president of the "U.S. of A."
• Gillian Gonzales - a geologist and a "real" fedora-wearing adventurer, who wants to keep tourists and miners away from the mine
• Jedidiah "Jed" Mason - a former miner, who wants to buy the mine and put himself back to work

[edit] Progression of the game

Location: Sapphire Falls

[edit] Entering the mine

At the start of the game, Sally, T.J. and Gizmo arrive at the mine and ask Ranger Addy Wise for permission to go inside so they can take a photograph or two. She allows them to enter for this purpose, but they apparently decide to start hunting for the creature instead. In the first room, they meet Samual Branon Jr., who the user can make them converse with by selecting comments that appear on the screen. After the conversation ends, Sally, T.J. and Gizmo journey deeper into the mine.

[edit] Platform Problems

Before any new tunnel can be entered, the lights must be turned on. This is done by guiding Sally over the scaffolding to reach the lever with the correct answer to a math problem that appears at the top of the screen. Once this done, the lights usually stay on, but they do go out on occasion, reguiring the user to play the "Platform Problems" activity again. This is actually the math problem which you solve in order to have lights in the caves of laser letters,map madness, and tablet turnover. This may be a little hard but you will learn how to solve and ,of course, answer.

[edit] Opening the secret passage

After the first "Platform Problems" activity is completed, Sally, T.J. and Gizmo discover a secret passage that can only be unlocked by placing gems in indentations shaped like each of the three different gems available. There are three activities that the user can play to collect gems, but "Platform Problems" must be played before each of them.

In the main room with the secret doorway, the user encounters two more characters, Jilian Godszolus and Jed Mason, who can be conversed with in the same way as Samual Branon.

[edit] Laser Letters

This is a spelling game, where the user is presented with a few different words, only one of which is correctly spelled. This word must be boxed in by a laser, which starts at the center of the screen. Naturally, there is something to stop the user: a robot which cuts through the laser, making it restart at the area where it was cut.So, don't forget to be careful because you have to restart it again and you will lose some points.

[edit] Map Madness

This game is nearly identical to the "pirate ship" activity from the 1996 version of this game, even using an almost identical map of the world. The biggest differences are that, instead of a galleon on a parchment map, the user controls a mine car over a map engraved into a rock wall. Also, the enemy pirate ships are swapped for "steam clouds," the "food and supplies" for deposits of coal needed to keep the mine car running and the treasures for gems. This version begins with a "wide view" of the entire map, the user having to "zoom in" to the "close-up view" to uncover the gems, whereas in original there was only the close-up view of the map.

[edit] Tablet Turnover

This is essentially the same game as the mummy's tomb activity in the original version of JumpStart 4th Grade. It even uses tablets the same shape and size although here, of course, the user is uncovering gems instead of Egyptian mummies. They are the squares which you pair in order to have a gem.When you have lots of gem you can open the locked cave. The only differences related to gameplay are that this version teaches science as well as history and that, instead of resetting the puzzle when no move is possible, the user is given a new puzzle.

[edit] Looking for clues

Once the door is opened, Sally, T.J. and Gizmo are transported to a canyon, which conveniently has an abandoned hot air balloon for them to use as transport.

[edit] Clue Climber

The user guides T.J. up a cliff by selecting the word which is a synonym, antonym or homonym to a given word.

[edit] Wacky Words

The player builds a pipeline by selecting the word that is the correct part of speech.

[edit] Crystal Keys

This is essentially the "clock tower" activity from the previous version of JumpStart 4th Grade.

[edit] Race Chase

• • Review

[edit] Costume Capers

• • Critical Thinking