JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island

JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island is a JumpStart game that was made in 1996 for 4th Graders. It was later replaced by JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Sapphire Falls in 2000.

Opening
thumb|300px|right A peaceful schoolhouse with white picket fences are shown in the beginning with pleasant music. Suddenly,lightning flashes,the schoolhouse and the fences take on a twisted shape. Inside,the substitute teacher named Ms. Grunkle,who is really a witch casts a spell on a frightened girl named Zev Cosmo. Although Zev's face is blacked out when the effects take place,we can see her turning into a monster. The same thing happens to Wolfgang,then Albert Brayne. Then a half-dozen of frightened students named Violet,Jane Plain,Penny Scilin,James,Tiffany,&Joe are all turned into monsters one-by-one. Ms. Grunkle flies on her broomstick on the way 2 her house. Along the way,she drops the skeleton keys to her house and her magic wand by Madame Pomreeda's carriage. After that,the words "Haunted Island" appear on the screen. (The other four students not shown in the introduction are: Calvin, Laura, Stanley ZeBlucky, and Debbie.)

Ending
thumb|300px|right Once the user enters the attic, Ms. Grunkle attempts to transform all the students back into monsters, along with the user. However, the user produces Ms. Grunkle's magic wand, which protects the kids from the spell. Ms. Grunkle is temporarily shocked that the user has acquired her wand, but then realizes that Madame Pomreeda must be responsible. (The game's opening sequence depicts Ms. Grunkle accidentally dropping her wand next to Pomreeda's carriage.) With that, Ms. Grunkle acknowledges defeat and flies out the window on her broom. A piece of paper she leaves behind on the floor reveals the schoolhouse being restored to its original state.

Characters

 * Ms. Grunkle - The game's villainess and the 4th Grade substitute teacher who turned the kids into monsters and brought them to Haunted Island, which she apparently rules over. Her appearance fits the popular depiction of a witch to a tee, with her having gray skin (although it's blue on the icon), black clothing and a pointed hat. Ms. Grunkle appears at the beginning and ending of the game as well as whenever the user enters a new room in her house. Sometime after you finish playing one of the mini-games she flies by on her broomstick to taunt the user with typical villainous comments ("So, you think you're pretty good at my little games? Well, you haven't seen anything yet!") before flying off. Curiously, she is sometimes referred to as "Mrs. Grunkle," prompting one to wonder whatever became of husband (she has a skeleton in her living room watching TV and holding a remote, which could have been her husband at one point). She does not have an explained motivation for her actions in the game. She locked them up in the attic of her house.
 * Flap - A large, purple bat (based on Peter Lorre) who provides help to the user, most often by explaining how the game's activities are played. He is commonly seen as the mascot for this version of JumpStart 4th Grade.
 * Madame Pomreeda - She gives the player the challenges needed to save each kid. Each time she is visited, Madame Pomreeda gives the user one of four cards, each containing three challenges. After the user finishes with four cards, Madame Pomreeda will use the collected objects to determine what the child's true personality is and say a poem aloud to change the kid back. These poems, the spells she uses to activate her crystal ball and the cards she gives the user all make great use of rhyming couplets. Madame Pomreeda's apparently lives in a circus carriage at the end of the island opposite Ms. Grunkle's house. Although she, her carriage and her magic seem to be very reminiscent of popular depictions of Gypsies, she is blonde-haired and blue-eyed and therefore does not have the physical appearance typically associated with the Roma people. According to Flap, Pomreeda has a "rotten sense of humor," considering the bugs in the Spider's Web activity cute. Her name is an obvious play on palm reading.
 * Repsac - Also referred to as Random Threat by the bugs in the spider web, Repsac is a menacing ghost who serves Ms. Grunkle. He is Ms. Grunkle's loyal servant. He occasionally springs upon the user to ask multiple choice questions that will deplete the user's health if answered incorrectly. Most of his questions seem to involve science and grammar, as well as sentence structure. This is presumably due to the fact that the game does not have activities which specifically address these topics. Repsac is "Casper" spelled backwards, which is quite fitting considering that Repsac's personality is the complete opposite of Casper's. He has yellow teeth and long fingernails which cre8 a hideous personality.
 * Graveyard Ghost - The glowing soul who is released frm his grave every time the player fills the Mad Libs style inscriptions that appear on his tombstone. He serves as a narrator 4 telling the spooky stories that appear on his tombstone. He has the same style as the l8 actor, Rodney Dangerfield
 * Grim Reaper - The unseen character who is mentioned a lot by the graveyard ghost. He's similar 2 Jolly Roger and Ursula. If the player doesn't complete the tombstone in time 2 save 3 souls as Madame Pomreeda requests,he'll be on his way 2 invade the cemetery otherwise the game is over.
 * Frog/Red headed prince - This guy appears in "The Enchanted Forest" as a frog who doesn't like being green w/a lot of warts on his face which look like blackheads on the human head. The player gets 2 make a potion 2 save him OR ELSE Ms. Grunkle will make the situation worse. When the potion is completed 3 times,the frog transforms in2 a red headed prince who speaks in a British accent.
 * Bugs/Spiders - These critters appear in "The Spider Web" who R controlled by Ms. Grunkle. The player gets 2 spell a word by guiding the spider thru each part of the web 1 by 1 by using the arrow keys on the keyboard 2 control its directions of crawling across the web.
 * Semimoto - This guy lives in the "Clock Tower" w/his family. His mom,Ariel doesn't appear in this game. He plays the piano which makes sounds like an organ when it's in the Treble Clef mode on the easiest level of the game. The player moves his hand by using the mouse 2 control his articulation. He's a play on Quasimodo who was seen in Victor Hugo's novel, Notre Dame De Paris.
 * Francis - This guy is Semimoto's dad and Ariel's husband who plays the piano w/his son, Semimoto. He's controlled by having the player use the mouse 2 move his hand left and right as part of body related articulation
 * Kids - They transformed in2 monsters by Ms. Grunkle. They transform in2 humans after the player solves the riddles/challenges 2 break Ms. Grunkle's spells
 * Vampire - This guy is a friend of Flap who is the mascot of the JumpStart franchise. He was turned in2 a vampire by accident. He doesn't have a name @ this point, b/c the crew didn't come up w/it. The player controls him by moving him w/ the arrow keys thru the maze. He'll be safe and sound inside his coffin after the player has completed all of the long division problems. He only appears in the "Vampire Maze"
 * Mummy & the cat - They appear in the "Mummy's Tomb". They'll be revealed after the player has eliminated all of the tiles in order 2 complete the game.
 * Scared animals - They appear all over the scary island. They're characters frm the JumpStart games. C If U can recognize them