The ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures

Infobox VG| title = The ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures


developer = The Learning Company
publisher = The Learning Company
released = 2000
designer =
engine =
genre = Educational/Mystery
modes = Single player
ratings = ESRB: Everyone (E)
platforms = PC (Windows, Macintosh)
media =
requirements =
input =

"The ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures" is an educational computer game in The Learning Company's "ClueFinders" series that focuses on critical thinking skills. In the game, the ClueFinders must rescue the curator of the local art museum, who has been mysteriously trapped at the top of a drop tower in an abandoned amusement park inhabited by humanoid robots.

Voice cast

*Chrissie McCarron - Joni Savage
*Clayton Stroope - Santiago Rivera
*Keoni Asia Gist - Leslie Clark
*Brian Gregory - Owen Lam
*Les Hedger - LapTrap/Log Ride Pirate Robot
*Charles Martinet - Jack "Jacques" Ramone
*Irene Trapp - Mimi Ramone
*Marina Cashmark - Vending Machine Robot/Bumper Carwash Robot
*Doug Boyd - Monorail Cargo Robot/Haunted House Maze Robot/Clown Mouth Panel Robot/Spaceball Splat Robot
*Michael Brown - Policeman
*Andrew Kawamura - Miscellaneous robots

ynopsis

One night, when the ClueFinders are observing a lunar eclipse from their clubhouse, they see an SOS signal coming from an abandoned amusement park on the edge of town. The kids travel to the park to investigate and find Jacques Ramone, the curator of the local art museum, is trapped at the top of a ride. He tells them that he was kidnapped and placed there, but says he doesn't know why. Joni decides that she, Owen and LapTrap will try to rescue Jacques Ramone while Santiago and Leslie search for clues.

When Joni and Owen manage to get the curator down by repairing the park's power supply, he immediately rushes off without thanking them. Meanwhile, Santiago and Leslie overhear a woman shouting and follow her into the park's haunted house, where she catches them and locks them up in a tiny cell. Joni and Owen discover more suspicious evidence, including disappearing crates of art supplies and robots lying around the park with missing parts. It soon becomes apparent that the mysterious woman is named Mimi Ramone and that she is using the park's sentient robots for slave labor, although the kids don't yet discover what kind of labor the robots are being forced to do.

After Santiago and Leslie are rescued, the ClueFinders catch Mimi Ramone, but, before they can get any answers out of her, Jacques shows up. Jacques reveals that he and Mimi are siblings and that they have been stealing paintings, though they disagree over what should be done with the paintings after they are stolen. This has caused them to constantly bicker and it was for this that Mimi trapped Jacques on the ride in the first place. With Mimi locked up thanks to the ClueFinders, Jacques locks up the ClueFinders and prepares to escape through a secret passageway.

However, LapTrap pursues him and is hit by the closing door. LapTrap is severely damaged and rendered incapable of floating, but he succeeds in preventing the door from closing all the way. The ClueFinders trail Jacques and discover an underground network of tunnels. There they find a giant contraption, apparently built from the stolen parts of the robots in the park, painting pictures. The ClueFinders soon realize that the Ramones have been stealing paintings from the museum where Jacques is curator and replacing them with forgeries created by the painting machine.

Furthermore, it becomes apparent that the point of contention between the two of them is that Jacques believes they should keep the stolen paintings while Mimi thinks they should sell them and has therefore been using the robots to ship the paintings out of the park. With the help of Santiago's ingenuity, the painting machine is reprogrammed to capture Jacques and both the Ramones are handed over to the police. A final shot of the ClueFinders reading the news in their clubhouse shows that LapTrap has been repaired.

Characters

The characters listed are characters that only appear in The ClueFinders Search and Solve Adventures. For information on the ClueFinders themselves, see the main ClueFinders page.

Jacques Ramone

Jack "Jacques" Ramone is the curator of the art museum in the ClueFinders' hometown. Unbeknownst to those around him, he and his sister, Mimi Ramone, began stealing priceless artwork from the museum and replacing them with forgeries created by robots they rescued from an abandoned amusement park.

For most of the game he speaks with a French accent, but, towards the end of the game, his accent is revealed to be fake. Once this occurs, he speaks for the remainder of the game in an American accent, indicating that he is an American posing as a Frenchman. Mimi calls him "Jack," suggesting that he took on the name "Jacques" to make himself seem more French.

Mimi Ramone

Mimi Ramone is Jacques' sister. Supposedly their mother liked her better than Jacques. She helped him steal artwork from the art museum and hide them underground. She is the elder of the Ramone siblings.

Notes

*This game makes great use of limited animation with a great deal of the animation of the ClueFinders being taken from other games, mainly "The ClueFinders Reading Adventures". The animation also features several very obvious continuity errors. Most notably, LapTrap, after he is damaged, is shown to be immobilized and being carried around by Owen in cut scenes, but LapTrap continues to appear floating in the game screens.
*At the beginning of the game, the goal is to rescue Jacques and at the end the goal is to capture him.

External links

* [http://www.cluefinders.com Official website]