karlast5

a blog dedicated to my studies on underdocumented/obscure games and devices

[shth-2005]

I AM LEAVING TUMBLR

I AM LEAVING TUMBLR! PERMANENTLY! i have made a post about why that you can read here, i have no intentions of returning

where can i find you, shadow?

spacehey (url /giygas) [AUTOPLAY WARNING i have audio on my page]

cohost (@ giygas)

discord (@ id.f86)

everskies (username idf86)

neocities (koenkohell) [UNFINISHED]

bandcamp (koenk01/KOENKOHELL)

backloggd (username koenko)

letterboxd (username koenko) [RARELY UPDATED]

youtube (@ chaosblast & @ flashmusics)

when are you leaving?

nowish (septenber 1st)

what if i don't have those?

send me messages by owl. or come with me (extends hand)

how will you be leaving?

i'm going to effectively lock these accounts down in a way that even i can't get into them and then whatever happens after that is in the hands of god

okay bye shadow

bye

[karlast5]

Fisher Price Smart Cycle, Original Version

("Physical Learning Arcade System")

[karlast5]

Smart Cycle (Plug N Play, Fisher Price, 2006?)

Thought I'd look at another childrens Plug N Play. This time, I've decided to dig into the original Fisher Price Smart Cycle. There have been several versions of the Smart Cycle released over the years: an "extreme" version, a race version, and a popular newer model that comes in mainly red instead of green. However, since the original model is the kind I had as a child, that's the version I'm most interested in.

The cycle comes packaged with a single full "game" wherein the player races down an infinite road and collects different numbers and letters while avoiding obstacles. Taking a detour will allow you to play a minigame, and you can also enter a race. There were several other games created for the cycle. Some of which completely recycled* the basic concept of the first game, and some of which were more unique. Loading another game involved switching the cartriges (bizarrely referred to as "keys" in advertising) out through a port on the side of the cycle. The seperate games were popular childrens IP tie-ins, of course.

Quite possibly the best demonstration of the Smart Cycle games I could find online is a live stream done by Yellow Cute Flo 64 on YouTube in 2021, although the cycle itsself is the racer version. The niche but seemingly infinite online community revolving around any and all childrens media will never not be fascinating to me. I don't see many people bring it up. This livestream is also the only significant footage I could find of the Fairytopia game online.

I'm truthfully very interested in getting my hands on one of these some day. I'm not sure how I'd play it, seeing as the cycle is designed for very small children, a demographic of person I decidedly do not belong to, but I'd love to have it for the sake of expanding my personal archives. Part of me also wonders what it would take to have the original games dumped online? The originals go for around $200 and up with very few listings at a lower cost and the cheapest all being nonfunctional. As per usual with obscurities, its a purchase for tax return season.

Advertisements for the Smart Cycle are here: 1, 2, and I'd also like to point out two more interesting videos. The first being of an in-store interactive display of the cycle, and the second being a video of cartrige tilt corruptions (!!!!!)

Unfortunately, my old Smart Cycle was left outside during spring cleaning and never brought back in, where the poor thing was then subjected to sun damage and rain. There were slugs inside of it when we finally came to its rescue. Hopefully the next one won't meet the same fate.

*I'm sorry.

[karlast5]

Dream Life (Plug N Play, Hasbro/Tiger, 2005)

For my first study, I'm taking a brief look at Dream Life, a Plug N Play style game targeted towards young girls. I've always had a bias towards girls games, so I figured this would be a good start.

Gameplay involves creating a life for the player character, mainly via customization and making friends with the NPCs in the game. During this time period, many girls games were very individual-focused, hyping up a players personal "style" by allowing the player to have unprecedented levels of creative control over their appearance. That's no different in Dream Life, as a large part of the gameplay is centered around character customization.

As it stands now, these devices are worth a pretty penny. Listings that include the remote can run you up to well over $100. It's a shame that machines that used to be so cheap are now so difficult to find. I won't be getting my hands on this one for a good while.

Emulation of Dream Life and its sequel device, Dream Life Superstar, appears to be possible using MAME. As of writing, I have yet to test if the files online are legitimate or if they can be run without significant elbow grease.

Archived advertisements for the game are sparse. Here are two. X and X

That's all I can say for now!