[keyboard typing noises] [Silent Partner's "Sugar Zone" plays]
[Silent Partner's "Sugar Zone" plays]
[VO] Now here's an award-winning edutainment title that's all but forgotten.
Learning with Leeper, developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1983,
and winner of the Best Educational Computer Game at the 1984 Arkie Awards.
This is the Sinclair ZX Spectrum release,
although the ColecoVision version is probably the most well-known here in the US.
I got this one because the Speccy is awesome, and this cover art appears to be tripping balls.
It looks like every pizza-induced nightmare I've ever had.
Not to say that the other covers aren't enjoyably surreal, because they absolutely are,
and even moreso when you look at the game that introduced the titular Leeper character, Lunar Leeper.
I also got this version because the box opens up to reveal the media and the manual printed on the inside flap,
and I adore designs like this.
And yes, while other editions of the game came on a cartridge or a floppy disk,
this one comes on cassette tape.
[faux upper class accent] The label states that copying is, of course, prohibited,
[normal] which just makes me want to copy it out of spite.
You also get this little fold-out card packed in there, which is the game's copy protection scheme.
So WHAT if people that want to play might be colorblind? We have a BOTTOM LINE to protect!
Once you get past THAT crap, the game provides you with a choice of multiple input devices,
followed by a sparkling splash screen letting you know that all that tape-loading time was NOT in vain.
Additionally, it also says the game was made by "SEIrra On-Line", not "SIErra",
so that's an indicator of incoming quality if I've ever seen it.
The Leeper then leaps on-screen, and you're provided with four activities.
We'll just take a look at the first one that got my attention, the Paint Box.
This is supposed to be a virtual coloring book, but due to the limitations of the hardware,
it's more of a simulation of abstract modern art creation.
No matter which of the four images you choose,
plopping down paint only covers up part of the image, instead of filling the entire space like you'd expect.
It's slow, clunky, ugly,
and absolutely charming - I love this.
Yeah, check it out, it looks like Sarif Headquarters!
[Deus Ex: Human Revolution music plays]
Next is Dog Count, in which you count... dogs.
Dogs appear to the left, bowl at the ready,
and it's up to you, as the Leeper, to use an elevator and select the correct number of dog bones.
If you choose the correct number, the dogs will stand up, refuse the bone, and leave,
like the bratty, entitled pooches they are.
If you choose the incorrect number,
well, it's not much different; just try again.
Or not. Because this is dumb.
Next is a mode called Balloon Pops, which features precisely zero popping of balloons.
That's unacceptable.
Instead, you control a balloon with a hook on it.
Either that, or a grossly-engorged sperm - I'm not sure.
A block letter will appear to the far right, and you have to move the balloon hook onto the same block letter down below.
Once you do that, a little song plays.
[a square wave plays what appears to be "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", missing a few notes]
Aaaaand the balloon slowly...
sloooooooooooooooooowly
carries the block off-screen.
Do it again, and again, and again,
oh my God, kill me.
Finally, there's Leap Frog, and here you play a frog trying to escape a centipede, for some reason.
Make it to the end of the maze, without getting eaten, and that's... it.
Utterly pointless, even moreso than the Paint Box.
[intermittent, monotone square wave noises]
Mmm. Pretty sick sound effects, though. You could turn that into the next big club anthem no problem.
[the same square wave noises, now accompanied with a club drum beat]
And thus, that is it for Learning with Leeper,
although, now that I've played it, there wasn't a whole lot of Leeper you learned with.
The dude only showed up in ONE of the minigames.
Unless you count Leap Frog, because... frogs leap?
Does... does that make it a Leeper? I don't know!
And I have no idea how this won the Best Educational Game in 1984,
much less getting at least FIVE ports to five different 8-bit systems of its era.
I know it's made for preschool kids, and 1983 was pretty early in terms of educational computer games,
so I probably have no reason to complain, but...
Dude! I haven't eaten much today, and I'm tired, and I feel like complaining.
I expect more from Sierra, even in '83,
and I expect more from educational gaming, even in '83.
At the very least, I expect the title character to BE in the game!
Or at least, like, most of it!
So, uh... while it may be a collectible title, and won some dubious award back in the day,
I can't say it stands out to me for any reason, other than it's an old Sierra game,
and therefore, has its place by default, in the footnotes of computer gaming history.
[the "Leeper Club Anthem" from earlier continues]
Hey! Did you enjoy this video? Welllll, I hope so,
and if you did, then you might wanna click these, and see some more!
If you didn't, well, get out of here. I don't want you watching anyway.
Educational Month is continuing throughout April, so stay tuned,
and as always, thank you very much for watching LGR!