A Bee C's
A Bee C's | ||
---|---|---|
Game No. | 465 | |
Voting | 3.25 points, 8 votes | |
Company | Commodore | |
Publisher | Commodore | |
Release | 1983 | |
Platform | C64 | |
Genre | Educational game | |
Gamemode | Single player | |
Operation | ||
Media | ||
Language | ||
Information | Only playable in combination with the Magic Voice cartridge. |
Description[edit | edit source]
The cartridge A Bee C's by Commodore can only be played with the Magic Voice Speech Cartridge. The educational programme was recommended for children of ages 3 to 6 years for the purpose of learning the alphabet, and so to be able to recognize small and capital letters and to spell using them.
A bee leads through the game, which can be controlled with the joystick in port 1.
In general
At first, you are greeted by the bee. She flies with a humming noise over the screen and says "Hi, I'm the Commodore Bee". Then an explanation follows that you need to fly the bee either to the rose, to play, or to the beehive to learn the alphabet. When you have flown the bee to the corresponding place, you need to press the fire button on the joystick.
Rose: playing
There are two different game variations. In the first one four pairs of letters - capital and small letters are shown scattered on the screen. In the second version 8 randomly chosen letters appear on the screen. In both cases the bee asks for a letter that you need to recognize and select. When the answer is correct you are rewarded with a happy face and spoken praise. By flying to the beehive you can repeat the letter, or with choosing the rose you get to the next 8 letters.
Beehive: the alphabet
Here, the alphabet is taught. The bee flies from left to right over the screen and at the same time the letters are shown one after the other and spoken out while appearing. When the bee has flown the first line (A-E), it flies back to the left to build up the next line (F-J). After spelling the alphabet completely, this is repeated with the small letters.
Design[edit | edit source]
The graphics are limited to the minimum, with text also shown using graphics. The start screen greets the user with the almost obligatory designation "Commodore presents" (text and voice) and a short part of the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". At the same time the bee flies with a humming noise to the word "Bee" on the screen. During the game, sound is limited to the humming effect when the bee is moved. Altogether very simple, but at least the bee's wings are animated.
Hints[edit | edit source]
The game was released only as a Cartridge. To play you need a joystick and the Magic Voice Speech Cartridge. This is probably the reason why it is not so widespread.
With the emulator WinVice, the Magic Voice Cartridge is mutated from version 2.3 onwards. If you switch on the emulation and choose from the file menu "Attach cartridge image..." "Generic 16KB image..." then the binary file of the ROM, you will be able to start the game. However, it will crash after choosing the beehive when showing the letter "R" and when choosing the rose either instantly or after the first letter has flown in. This is probably due to the still rudimentary emulation of the Magic Voice in Vice 2.3. See also the following threads at forum64.de:
Solution[edit | edit source]
There is no solution to the game; both the learning and gaming parts are without any time pressure (parts can also be jumped) and then the cartridge starts anew.
Cheats[edit | edit source]
Voting[edit | edit source]
Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote): | ||
3.25 points at 8 votes (rank 1098). You need to be logged in to cast a vote. | ||
C64Games | ? | DD. month yyyy - "vote" - nnnn downs |
Lemon64 | ? | DD. month YYYY - nn votes |
Reviews[edit | edit source]
Stefan67: "Even for the target group aged 3 to 6 will this game get boring very quickly".
H.T.W: "The basic idea of this educating game is in my opinion very good, due to the optical (vowels are highlighted) AND the acoustically accentuation with language. Furthermore, at that time is was actually almost utopian that a computer talks to its user. Unfortunately, the appeal of this type of educational help was given away by the rather rigid guidance through the game and only little diversification. Nevertheless it is likeable and even 28 years later gets still a "good" as evaluation".
Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]
Cover[edit | edit source]
Cartridge[edit | edit source]
Highscore[edit | edit source]
A highscore is not possible.