History VideoGame / JumpStartSeries

* AdaptationDyeJob: Jess has red hair in ''[=JumpStart=] 6th Grade'', but it's more brown in subsequent products. This may be because her later appearances are often alongside Jo of ''[=JumpStart=] 5th Grade'' and Knowledge Adventure probably thought one redheaded girl was enough. Strangely, though, in ''[=JumpStart=] Spy Masters'', Jess' hair is ''black'' - which is a bit odd, seeing as another character featured in that game (Sally from the 2000 version of ''[=JumpStart=] 4th Grade'') also has black hair.

* DialogueTree: Especially prominent in ''5th Grade'' and the 2000 version of ''4th Grade''.

Circa 2000, a ContinuityReboot fused the ''Preschool'' through ''2nd Grade'' continuities into one new universe in which the various characters interacted together and had (sometimes vastly) different designs. At the same time, there was a rather abortive attempt at creating a similar shared universe for the ''3rd'' through ''6th Grade'' characters. That universe was abandoned after 2001, and while the ''3rd Grade'' characters continued to appear past 2001, the characters from ''4th Grade'' and above succumbed to ChuckCunninghamSyndrome at that point.

* AlliterativeName: The characters from ''[=JumpStart=] Preschool'' (and ''[=JumpStart=] Pre-K'') were Casey Cat, Eleanor Elephant, Kisha Koala, and Pierre Polar Bear. Too bad [[RaceLift Kisha was retconned into a tiger]] in 2005, ruining the AddedAlliterativeAppeal! Thankfully, Kisha was redesigned back into a koala starting with the 2018 ''[=JumpStart=] Academy'' series of games.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Most of the games have a toolbar constantly at the bottom of the screen with options such as Go Back/Exit, Help, Progress Report, and Difficulty Levels, but the earliest installments (the original versions of ''[=JumpStart=] Preschool, [=JumpStart=] Kindergarten'', ''[=JumpStart=] 1st Grade'', and ''[=JumpStart=] 2nd Grade'') don't (though most of the options can be accessed other ways). Also, it's the norm for ''[=JumpStart=]'' games to have some sort of goals, progression, and/or prizes, but the original ''[=JumpStart=] Preschool'' and ''Kindergarten'' lack any such thing. Perhaps most importantly, all the characters' (except Edison's) designs in all of those games were different than their designs in all later games except ''[=JumpStart=] Pre-K'' (i.e. [[AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal Frankie and CJ had no clothes other than their collar and hat, respectively]]).

* BrokenAesop: ''[=JumpStart=] Advanced 1st Grade'' has a very slight anti-cheating Aesop (i.e. when Frankie says "We'll show Jimmy we don't need to cheat to win"). However, the game centers around using gadgets to improve the characters' scooters, and [[http://www.amazon.com/review/R1YUNY805NIPNA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm one reviewer]] interpreted this as cheating...which would break the Aesop pretty badly, to say the least (especially since the villain Jimmy apparently doesn't add gadgets to his scooter).

* ContinuityReboot: [=JumpStart=] has at least 2 major continuity reboots: one circa 2000 and another in 2005. Even outside of these major reboots, there have been notable changes in character design over the years, and little effort is spent trying to keep things such as character personality and setting consistent. Frankly, the games don't seem to care about canon at all - the major concern seems to just be that the games are educational and fun.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The original cover for ''[=JumpStart=] Spanish'' showed Mr. Hopsalot, who was indeed the game's main character, on the cover. However, somewhere around 2001 or 2002, [=JumpStart=] arbitrarily decided that Frankie the dog should be the main character and mascot of the entire [=JumpStart=] series. As a result, in 2003, the ''[=JumpStart=] Spanish'' cover was changed to one that prominently featured Frankie and didn't feature Hopsalot at all...''even though Frankie didn't appear in [=JumpStart=] Spanish''.

* FunnyAnimal: Oh so many.

* LockAndKeyPuzzle

* PlotCoupon
* PopUpVideoGames

** In ''VideoGame/Jumpstart1stGrade'', the fastest way to grind points is the Milk Cap Game.
** In ''VideoGame/Jumpstart2ndGrade'', the fastest way to grind points is the Jukebox, specifically picking the song Marching Band, which costs $0.50 and, on Trailblazer difficulty, requires a $0.25, two $0.1 and a $0.05 coins.