JumpStart Kindergarten (Windows v1.2) Walkthrough

Now for the version I think you're probably familiar with. This is the later Windows release of JumpStart Kindergarten, usually referred to as the "Classic" version to distinguish it from the later/different 2.0 version. This one is actually a fair amount different from the DOS version -- and unfortunately, I don't think many of the changes are for the better. While the upped resolution is nice (640x480 instead of 320x200), the game doesn't quite flow as nicely. For example, a lot of the animations are slower (the doll sorting minigame and the garden pattern minigame come to mind), and the mad libs dialogue is handled terribly in this version, spaced way far apart. I won't say it was convincing in the DOS version either, but at least it partially sounded like a fluid sentence.

Gameplay-wise it's mostly the same game, and only a few alterations drastically affect it. The most notable one I found was that you can actually color the lines in the coloring book minigame now, though I found that feature pretty annoying as a kid because when I was trying to fill a tiny space I'd just end up messing the picture up. The animals in the picnic seem to also come and go more often, making it a little more difficult to get a picture of a specific one. One oddity I found with the clock is that Mr. Hopsalot no longer refers to 12:00 as "noon" or "midnight", instead just using the typical "AM" and "PM". Not a major loss, but something that made my eye twitch none the less.

I went with the same structure I did with the DOS version, doing all the minigames and click points first and then playing the songs at the very end. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!