Having grown up in the late 80’s and 90’s, it’s fun to think back at all the old shows, movies, and games I used to enjoy and see how different they are to what the kids of today have offered to them. It sort of makes me feel old already, even though I shouldn’t. Honestly, who could forget shows like Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Dark Wing Duck, or books like Where’s Waldo or Magic-Eye?

Some of the properties from last decade, while all but lost among today’s youth, could potentially work with the game consoles of today - that is, the unique ones from Nintendo. Some are more applicable than others in terms of new control schemes, while others would just benefit from the improved practicality of touch or point control. Read after the break for six licensed games that we decided could make for interesting Wii or DS releases, despite the fact that we’ll almost certainly never see them made.

Ghostwriter (DS)

I guess your appreciation for the franchise would depend on when exactly you grew up. The Ghostwriter TV show aired in the early 90s until about 1995. Basically, a group of kids in New York City would somehow always end up in a mystery solving scenario. With the help of a literate ghost, the kids would write down messages to Ghostwriter until he could understand them, at which point he’d go out and help gather clues for the kids. He’d spell out the clues using whatever letters he could find, and it was up to the kids to make sense of the clues and continue further.

Assuming the AI could be perfected, a game like this could possibly work very well on the DS. I remember an old Macintosh mystery/adventure game, back when they were orange and black screens, where my friends and I would sit around for hours typing in commands until the computer would understand. “Look behind the boulder.” “Climb on top of the boulder.” I don’t remember the name of that game (if anyone does, let me know - it’s been bugging me for years), but a similar concept of challenging you to write something that Ghostwriter could read, understand, and spit out a relevant response or clue would be fun, since you’d have to plan your wording out carefully. After all, Ghostwriter didn’t understand everything the kids wrote on the show, and they had to be all metacognitive and figure out how to help Ghostwriter understand. Coupled with the fact that leaving the mystery solving completely open-ended to you could would make for a very engaging game.

I’ve been told that Ghostwriter video games actually came out during the show’s heyday; however, game systems back then didn’t allow you to write on a touch screen. The show was as short-lived as most 90s children’s shows, and goodness knows who has the Ghostwriter license and legal paperwork just rotting in a broom closet somewhere. Oh well.

Calvinball (Wii)

In all honesty, I have no idea how a game where you make up the rules as you go would work on a video game system. However, I’m pretty sure that we all wanted to try Calvinball at one point or another in our lives. All I know is that if any existing game console could make it fun, it would be the Wii. Also, you should get one or two Calvinball masks as a pre-order bonus.

Calvin & Hobbes ended its run in 1995, however - I can still remember the announcement coming on the radio news in the car. Also, Bill Watterson doesn’t like licensing out the property for anything, so you’ll have to stick to planning a real-life Calvinball game with your friends for the summer.

Goosebumps (DS)

The Goosebumps series of books was very popular among kids in the mid-90s, as I remember how resistant I was to fads back then and was slow to approach the series. The DS has already established itself as having the ability to be a virtual book, and the DS’s popularity among kids makes it a great target for getting kids to read more (which I can’t stress strongly enough).

By putting books on the DS, a lot more could be done to add to the atmosphere of the stories. For example, pages could be made to look worn, or depending on the story or specific scenario, maybe the pages could look like they’re burning or covered in some disgusting slime.

I also recall reading some Goosebumps books where you could choose your own storyline. You’d read a few pages, and then the book would give you options. If you want to do this, go to this page. If you want to do that, go to that page. Those were always fun because I’d read through over and over to see what all the “bad” endings were like, since if you picked the wrong option, the next page or the one after that saw your demise. Then, of course, I’d find the “good” ending if I hadn’t already. While providing this option via the touch screen would be a rather simple use of the DS feature, it’s really all that’s needed.

Lite Brite (DS)

Ok, so this one isn’t exactly from the 90s specifically - it’s from 1967. However, Matt and I can still remember the 90s commercials for Lite Bright, jingle and all, as they came on during our favorite cartoons and television shows.
Essentially, you take colored pins and stick them into the holes on a black board with a light on the inside, and your pins would light up. You could make dozens of your own visual creations this way, and they’d be illuminated to make the child you were look on in awe.

I believe there’s a Flash website up where you can essentially do the same thing, but a DS game would obviously allow you to bring your work of pointillism around with you to show your friends at anytime. It would be the greatest thing they have ever seen.

Carmen Sandiego (Wii/DS)

The Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego children’s game show was one of the highlights of the 1990s. The show consisted of three rounds, and began with three contestants. In the first round, you would compete in a Jeopardy!-style manner, trying to determine where exactly the crook for that day was striking. Two players would then move onto the second round where several landmark names would appear on a board, and players would take turns to turn each of those landmarks over to find the loot, warrant, and crook in a memory-style game. After the crook was jailed, the remaining player would attempt to catch Carmen Sandiego by running around and placing markers on a gigantic continent map.

While educational games are constantly available for PCs, they’ve been a rare occurrence on consoles for some time now. A Carmen game could easily be done, using touch or point-and-click for the first two rounds, and a Phantom Hourglass-like method of leading an on screen character around the map for the third round. Unfortunately, this game just wouldn’t be the same without Lynne Thigpen, The Chief.

The Magic School Bus (Wii/DS)

Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy! I know, we all have our favorite elementary school teachers, but I highly doubt any of them were cooler than Ms. Frizzle would have been as a teacher. It was actually mentioned in my educational psychology class (with “lectures” given by Dr. David Zola) how any lesson integrating student involvement through movement, interaction, etc. will result in more effective learning. That’s everything Ms. Frizzle was about.

Of course, a Magic School Bus game wouldn’t have to have a breakthrough control system on the Wii or DS, as such a game would probably be aimed towards children. The controls would merely have to be simple and intuitive, as you’d travel with Carlos, Raphie, Wanda, Dorothy Ann, Keesha, Tim, Phoebe, and Arnold on trips underwater, through haunted houses, into the human body, and even to the planets of the solar system. It’d be a fun, interactive way to introduce these subjects to kids. Of course, it’d just be a nice nostalgic trip back for the rest of us… especially with the theme song performed by Little Richard to bring us back!

These games have almost no chance of ever being released, but it’s always nice to go back and say, “Hey, you know, that was a great show/book/toy. It’d be neat to see how they could possibly bring it back in today’s world.” Do you have any fond memories of shows or toys from your childhood that you think could work with the Wii or Nintendo DS? Let us know!

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