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| The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra | |
|---|---|
 Cover of The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra |
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| Developer(s) | The Learning Company |
| Publisher(s) | The Learning Company |
| Platform(s) | PC (Windows, Macintosh) |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Educational/Adventure/Mystery |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra is a computer game in The Learning Company's ClueFinders series where the ClueFinders save the Numerian rainforest and Dr. Horace Pythagoras from a mysterious monster called Mathra who is a parody on Mothra.
The game is the first in the series and depicts the first meeting of the ClueFinders and LapTrap, who goes on to appear in all the other ClueFinders games. The game ends with LapTrap being given to the ClueFinders and, in this respect, The Mystery of Mathra can be seen as an origin story for the rest of the series.
Contents |
Voice cast
- Chrissie McCarron - Joni Savage
- Clayton Stroope - Santiago Rivera
- Keoni Asia Gist - Leslie Clark
- Brian Gregory - Owen Lam
- Les Hedger - LapTrap/Lefty/Yorrick/Vine Monkey
- Jeff Kramer - Dr. Horace Pythagoras/Fletcher Q. Limburger/Bat/Centipede/Door Monkey/Dragons
- Doug Boyd - Liverpuddlin
- Jackie Brambles - Brainstorm
- Brian Butler - Tree
- Marina Cashmark - Charlie
- Wally Field - Liverpuddlin/Vine
- Andrea Fulton - Zoe
- J.S. Gilbert - Goocifer/Guard Monkey/Monkey King/Numerian/Oomla
- Colin Hussey - Bird
- Roger L. Jackson - Zep (credited as "Roger Jackson")
- Rance McDougald - Bird Brain
- Irene Trapp - Monument Monkey/Queen Monkey/Sentinel
- Rebecca Wink - Chest Monkey/Flower/Spit Spot/Twin Spiders
Synopsis
A thousand years ago the ancient Numerians, great inventors, built a great city in the Numerian rainforest. According to legend, a monster named Mathra appeared out of nowhere one night. Mathra attacked the wild animals of the jungle, but the Numerians caught Mathra. Fearing he might escape again, they left their city, never to return. They locked the door to the city, split the key in two, and buried the pieces in puzzles "in two corners of the rainforest." The Numerians still live in the villages around the Numerian rainforest, but the location of the Lost City remains a mystery.
When animals began disappearing in the Numerian rainforest again, some suspect Mathra. Dr. Pythagoras, however, believes there is a simple explanation. However, before he can set out to find the missing keys to the lost city, he is himself kidnapped by what seems to be Mathra. Dr. Pythagoras' last words are, "Call the ClueFinders." Interestingly enough, Joni is Dr. Pythagoras' niece.
The ClueFinders fly to the rainforest in Mr. Limburger's airplane, where he explains the legend of Mathra to them. The ClueFinders conclude that they need to get to the Lost City. Joni and Santiago set off to find the keys and Owen and Leslie stay behind. They also join LapTrap, Dr. Pythragoras' Turbo TURTLE, who has a map of the rainforest that comes in useful.
The two areas of the rainforest that contain the keys are the Monkey Kingdom and the Goo Lagoon. In both places, they meet highly intelligent animals which can speak English. Also in both places they find clues that suggest that Mathra isn't behind the disappearing animals: a badge with "Fletcher's Furriers" written on it and a can of aviation engine oil.
After Joni and Santiago collect both keys, Mr. Limburger offers to fly them to the Lost City. However, when they jump with their parachutes they land in the jungle canopy, far from the Lost City. The ClueFinders eventually make their way on their own to the Lost City. When they take out both keys, they fuse together to form one key, which they use to unlock the door.
Inside, they find what appears to be Mathra sleeping, but then it occurs to them who is really behind the disappearing animals — Mr. Limburger. Limburger built a costume for his airplane, so it would appear to be Mathra, providing a cover for his smuggling of their hides. It turns out that "Fletcher" is Limburger's first name. He then trapped Dr. Pythagoras with the animals that he had captured. Limburger revealed to the ClueFinders that he was behind the mystery, locked them in the city, and flew away in his Mathra plane.
The ClueFinders discover that Dr. Pythagoras is trapped on the other side of the Bottomless Pits of Doom with all the animals that Limburger has been collecting. They rebuild the Mathra trap, which the Numerians used to trap Mathra, and save Dr. Pythagoras and the animals. After they do so, the Mathra trap becomes invisible, and Limburger flies his plane into it. He falls down the pit.
When the ClueFinders leave the rainforest, Dr. Pythagoras gives them LapTrap, who faints when he hears he'll be going on more dangerous adventures. Meanwhile, Limburger reappears in the rainforest and swears his vengeance. As he stalks away, his dark mood unappeased, a large draconic head resembling that of Limburger's Mathra-shaped airplane appears behind him, smiles, and spouts fire.
Characters
The characters listed are characters that appear only in The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures. For information about other characters see the main ClueFinders page.
Dr. Horace Pythagoras
Dr. Horace Pythagoras, PhD, is a famous naturalist and an uncle to Joni Savage, leader of the ClueFinders club. Dr. Pythagoras has Turbo TURTLE called LapTrap whom is responsible for keeping him organized. At the end of the game, he gives the LapTrap to the ClueFinders, as a reward. His last name is a reference to Pythagoras. Dr. Pythagoras was mentioned in passing in The ClueFinders Reading Adventures, where Joni refers to him as "Professor Horace." In 3rd Grade Adventures, she refers to him as "Uncle Horace."
Mr. Limburger
Fletcher Q. Limburger is pilot of the airplane that flies the ClueFinders into the rainforest.
In the end it is revealed that Limburger is the villain. Limburger used the legend of Mathra to collect furs for his fur company, and he polluted the Goo Lagoon by throwing his oil drum into Goo Springs. Limburger was trapped by the Mathra trap and fell into the Bottomless Pits of Doom. He reappeared in the rainforest later and swore revenge on the ClueFinders.
A fletcher is someone who makes arrows. Limburger is a kind of cheese and sounds similar to "Lindbergh", the last of name of a famous airplane pilot.
Areas of the Rainforest
There are four different areas of the rainforest, each of which teaches a different skill and has a different goal.
The Monkey Kingdom
- Skill: Mathematics
- Goal: Find the left half of the key to the Lost City
The Monkey Kingdom is home to the monkeystadors who are headed by Vasco da Bongo. The area is populated by Sneeze Berries which were planted by the ancient Numerians. The ancient Numerians hid one of the keys to the Lost City at the center of the Rings of Volcanic Fire (also called the Rings of Fire).
| Game | Skill |
|---|---|
| Address Stones | Place Value |
| Monument | Word Problems |
| The Pit and the Vines | Perimeter and Area |
| The Queen’s Calendar | Deductive Reasoning with Numbers |
| Treasure Chest | Money |
| Chasm of Snakes | Addition |
| The Rings of Fire | Whole Number Computation |
The Goo Lagoon
- Skill: Logic
- Goal: Find the right half of the key to the Lost City
Goo from Goo Springs flows down Goo Falls forming the Goo Lagoon. Goo is strange green substance that the insects who inhabit the area enjoy. However, since Mathra's return, the goo has been polluted. The goal in the Goo Lagoon is to reach the top of Goo Falls and collect one of the keys to the Lost City. To do this, one must collect Beetle Bags.
When the ClueFinders reach the Lost City, they find there is a giant computer built by the ancient Numerians whose water wheel (goo wheel?) is turned by goo from Goo Springs, which feeds the Goo Lagoon. The ClueFinders find that Limburger has thrown an oil can in the goo here to pollute the Goo Lagoon. The Cluefinders remove the oil can.
| Game | Skill |
|---|---|
| The Spider Sisters | Graphic Analogies |
| Crabalock Attack | Word Analogies |
| Attack-nids! | Visual Thinking |
| Moths and Fleas | Attributes |
| Worms’ Day Out | Deductive Reasoning with Story Problems |
| River of the Goo Creature | Patterns and Sequences |
| The Walls of Goo Falls | Logical Reasoning |
The Jungle Canopy
- Skill: Geography
- Goal: Make it to the Lost City
After the ClueFinders collect both keys to the Lost City, Mr. Limburger mysteriously drops them in the canopy instead of at the Lost City, and thus the ClueFinders have to make it to the Lost City on their own. The goal in this area is simply to reach the Lost City. There are only two games, and each only needs to be played once.
| Game | Skill |
|---|---|
| Where Are You? | Map Reading |
| Birds on Vacation | U.S. Geography |
The Lost City
- Skill: Science and Language arts
- Goal: Build the Mathra trap
To stop Limburger, the ClueFinders must bridge the Bottomless Pits of Doom, which rebuilds the Mathra trap. To do this, they must collect Snagnets (a combination of snakes and magnets), to move bridge stones.
Science
| Game | Skill |
|---|---|
| The Chamber of Order | Classification |
| The Chamber of Vision | Sequencing |
| The Chamber of Structure | Constructing Animal Skeletons |
| The Chamber of Illusion | Making Inferences |
Language Arts
| Game | Skill |
|---|---|
| The Chamber of Knowledge | Reading for Information |
| Bottomless Pits of Doom | Parts of Speech |
Cultural references and parodies
The game contains a number of parodies of and allusions to popular culture and other topics. These include:
- A "flower" living in the Goo Lagoon speaks with a Cockney accent and says "I'm a good girl, I am", referencing My Fair Lady.
- The name "Goo Lagoon" is a play on the Blue Lagoon.
- "Monkeystador" is an obvious play on "conquistador". The leader of the monkeystadors is named "Vasco da Bongo" in reference to Vasco da Gama.
- The "Rings of Fire" are a play on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a line of active volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.
- The monster Mathra is a parody on Mothra from Toho Studios and Godzilla's films.
- The Four Flowers at Goo Lagoon resemble the four members of The Beatles. One wears glasses that resemble those worn by the Beatles guitarist John Lennon. There is one short one who is obviously is the least talented of the four meant to resemble the drummer Ringo Starr. They also all talk with the English accent that the Beatles talked with. They also performed parodies of several Beatles songs including "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite."
Notes
- In one of the activities in the jungle canopy, we are given the geographical coordinates of Numeria. These place Numeria in northwestern Brazil. The geography of Numeria, however, doesn't match that of the actual area.
- If one makes it through the Rings of Fire or to the top of Goo Falls after acquiring the keys, one will win other golden objects.
- The time of day seems to progress as the user advances through the game. At the start of the game it is daytime and when the user travels through the canopy and reaches the Lost City it is sunset. When the ClueFinders leave the rainforest with Dr. Pythagoras after the game's climax, it is daytime again. Therefore, the game takes place over the course of about a day.
- If the player clicks on Santiago after making it inside the Lost City, he comments on them being the first humans to be within in the city in a thousand years. This overlooks the fact that Limburger quite obviously reached the city before them.
External links
- The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra at MobyGames
- The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures at the Internet Movie Database
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